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Home My WebLink AboutCTAC Meeting Agenda ItemSan Diego Association of Governments CITIES/COUNTY TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE June 6, 2013 REGIONAL ARTERIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM UPDATE Introduction AGENDA ITEM NO.: 5 Action Requested: RECOMMEND File Number 3311000 The following report provides an update on current maintenance and support efforts for the Regional Arterial Management System (RAMS). At the December 2011 meeting, the San Diego Regional Traffic Engineers Council (SANTEC) members recommended a regional pooled -fund model for ongoing RAMS operations for CTAC approval. At the April 2012 meeting, CTAC members approved a one-year trial period for RAMS operations based on the regional support model recommended by the SANTEC. The annual cost for this was shared among 16 of the participating local agencies, Caltrans, and SANDAG for a total program budget of $236,000. This staff report will update members on the first year of RAMS operations and will request that members discuss and recommend continuation of the current RAMS support and maintenance agreement. Discussion SANDAG, in cooperation and conjunction with the local agencies deployed the RAMS project at the end of fiscal year 2012. The project delivered 15 local agency RAMS servers, and one Regional server with which all local agency systems communicate. The RAMS system provides the region and the local agencies the following benefits: 1. The ability to coordinate on signal plan development both actively and passively. By sharing timing plans across local jurisdictional bounders, traffic engineers are able to complete proposed plans more quickly and efficiently, and reach agreement on modification more readily through access to better information. 2. A common time source across more than 3,000 traffic signals region -wide, allowing for timing precision necessary to coordinate signals across jurisdictional boundaries. 3. A common platform from which current and future efforts can build, such as the Integrated Corridor Management System (ICM) which is currently in operation in the Interstate 15 corridor. Prior to the project transitioning from implementation to ongoing operations, SANDAG staff worked with SANTEC and CTAC on developing the best approach to support this newly established, and common platform for all the traffic engineers within San Diego County. The components 10 -1- included ongoing RAMS operations, methods for addressing software and hardware maintenance, and funding and monitoring of inter -agency system communication. To that end, SANTEC and CTAC recommend that a Regional Fund Pool be established to effectively and efficiently address the three operational elements: 1. Software Maintenance 2. Hardware Maintenance 3. Communication Infrastructure 2013 Regional Fund Pool The annual cost for regional RAMS operations in FY 2013 was $236,000 and shared by the 16 participating agencies. Based on the April 2012 CTAC recommendation, staff worked with local agencies on the transfer of funds into the regional pool established for ongoing RAMS operations with SANDAG acting as a central point of contact and contract administrator for the three elements listed above. Staff provided local agencies with three options for transferring local funds to SANDAG: 1. Withhold Local TransNet Funding Allocation - Eight (8) local agencies opted to have a portion of their respective FY 2013 TransNet funding allocation withheld in the amount of their RAMS cost share. 2. Reprogram Local TransNet Funds via Regional Transportation improvement Plan (RTIP) Amendment — Five (5) agencies opted to reprogram existing transportation funds from other projects to cover the RAMS cost share. These agencies provided updated project information as part of the 2012 RTIP update cycle. 3. Direct Payment — Two (2) agencies opted to fund their respective RAMS cost share with other local funds and pay SANDAG directly. Direct payment by local agencies requires entering into an interagency funding agreement with SANDAG. The agency cost shares and fund transfer options for FY 2013 RAMS Operations are included in Attachment 1. Regional RAMS operations efforts were included in the approved FY 2013 SANDAG Budget and Overall Work Program (OWP) under ITS Operations (OWP #3311000). 2014 Changes to Regional Fund Pool For fiscal year 2014 support costs will remain at $236,000; however, there will be only two options for local agencies to participate in the regional fund pool: 1. Reprogram Local TransNet Funds via RTIP Amendment 2. Direct Payment 11 -2- Option #1 (Withhold TransNet Allocation) does not provide SANDAG or the participating local agencies with sufficient financial transparency to document the transfer of TransNet funds via Local Resolution only. RAMS Operations Overview and Update SANDAG on behalf of the participating local agencies established several contracts to support RAMS Operations: 1. McCain, Inc., of Vista, CA, for Software Maintenance of the Regional and Local QuickNet 4+ software. 2. Dell Computer for hardware support for the delivered servers. 3. Cisco System, Inc., for hardware support for the delivered network communication equipment. 4. AT&T for inter -agency system communication. Through the established software maintenance agreement, McCain, Inc., has made quarterly on -site visits to each of the participating agencies, investigated and resolved approximately 100 reported issues, and completed 125 scheduled maintenance activities. The McCain, Inc., contract provides for training, case logging with helpdesk support, system enhancements and project management. Staff has determined FY 14 maintenance agreement provisions will not see a cost increase in the software support agreement, network communications, or hardware warranty support. Future operational initiatives include the complete replacement of hardware - Server, Firewall, Router (end of life for warranty of servers June 2015) as well as potential migration of the RAMS Network from Frame Relay to Switched Ethernet or Virtual Private Networks. Recommendation That CTAC recommend continuation of the regional fund pool to continue hardware and software maintenance of the RAMS system. Upon CTAC recommendation to continue RAMS operations, staff will reconfirm agency costs and continue the existing regional support agreement with the vendors. Staff will work with participating agencies on developing local resolutions to reprogram local TransNet funds (or interagency Memorandum Of Understandings to transfer other local funds) to SANDAL for RAMS support. Attachment 1. Regional Arterial Management System Operations Key Staff Contacts: Lisa Kondrat-Dauphin, (619) 699-1942, lisa.kondrat-dauphin@sandag.org James Dreisbach-Towle, (619) 699-1914, james.towle@sandag.org 12 -3- Attachment 1 Regional Arterial Management System (RAMS) Operations Agencies identified with an "x" are asked to select an alternate approach for future years of maintenance and support. Agency Annual Costs FY 2013 Funding Option City of San Diego $67,600 Local TNet Withheld Caltrans District 11 $24,400 Funding Agreement City of Chula Vista $15,500 Local TNet RTIP County of San Diego $12,500 Local TNet Withheld City of Carlsbad $11,700 Local TNet Withheld City of Escondido $11,300 Funding Agreement City of Oceanside $11,200 Local TNet Withheld City of San Marcos $10,800 Local TNet Withheld City of El Cajon $9,700 Local TNet RTIP City of Vista $8,800 Local TNet Withheld City of National City $8,000 Local TNet RTIP City of Encinitas $7,400 Local TNet RTIP City of La Mesa $7,400 Local TNet RTIP City of Santee $7,400 Local TNet Withheld City of Poway $7,300 Local TNet Withheld SANDAG $15,000 13 -4-