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Judy Fox, 3645 Virgin Islands Court, said when she first joined the committee she felt the answer is to get people out of their cars. She believed the consultants have come up with some very good programs. She said James Paxson has been a good source of information. She felt the committee could make a difference for the City of Pleasanton and will come up with some areas where the traffic can be improved. She asked for Council's support. There were no further speakers. There was a break at 8:30 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 8:40 p.m. 5. PRESENTATION BY CALTRANS ON PROPOSED 1-580 RAMP METERING Jim McKrank, Chief of Operations for Caltrans, presented Caltrans proposal for ramp metering on 1-580 as well as some of the impacts on the local streets and residents. He said all traffic management is controlled in the Bay Area from the transportation management center in Oakland. The goal of the center is to keep the public informed. He said the initial implementation of ramp metering will be at the interchanges of Hopyard,. Hacienda and Santa Rita and then later the 1-580/1-680 interchange, E1 Charro, and Isabel. He said Caltrans is pursuing funding for future ramp metering in the traffic operations systems projects in the area. He explained what ramp metering is, how it will help and/or affect the people of Pleasanton. Ramp metering regulates the traffic going onto the freeways. The more ramps that are done, the better. The goals of metering 1-580/1-680 is to maximize the levels of service. Ramp metering helps improve traffic safety and flow rate and capacity of the freeways. He said the problem is the traffic merging onto the freeways. He reported the savings and sat~ty improvements, and reduction of traffic accidents from ramp metering. He said there are 120 active meters in the Bay Area, with 1200 in California. He projected in the next ten years there would be over 1000 in the Bay Area and 3500 in California. He said ramp metering will benefit everyone in the area. He said the capacity on the freeways is increased because the cars are merging at slower intervals and not as a steady stream. He said Pleasanton is responsible for approximately 39% of the traffic. In conclusion, he said growth will occur with or without metering. Ramp metering will significantly reduce the delay in the corridor which will benefit the residents of Pleasanton. Ramp metering improves safety and incident related delays. Ms. Ayala asked why the 1997 ramp delay map did not show what the delay would be if metering were in place. Mr. McKrank said it would be similar to what is projected for the year 2010. Mayor Tarver supported things that would improve the situation. He felt Caltrans should have in place performance measurements that indicate in fact that metering is doing what it is Pleasanton City Council 11 05/21/98