CCMIN091598 - Laserfiche WebLink

Mayor Tarver asked if there were 125 percent at Main Street, Sunol Boulevard and Ray Street, is the traffic pushed through. Mr. van Gelder said the definitions in the text books of traffic modeling call this a traffic demand model, not traffic simulation. He said Contra Costa County is spending approximately $1 million on traffic simulation. He said its model simulation would show streets that have reached capacity and the time it takes for the vehicles to travel along those streets. He felt the City of Pleasanton wanted a different kind of model. A model shows where the problem areas are and then staff can work on those areas. Mayor Tarver is trying to understand how the model works. Mr. van Gelder said the model shows the traffic going through the intersections that have full capacity. The model shows about 4000 more peak hour trips than the last General Plan model which comes from increased land use in Hacienda. There is also increased density to the Kaiser property in Sunol. The changes in land use densities change the traffic model. The model is flexible and can be changed according to Council's direction. He wanted to discuss the macro-managing. He felt the current rates for residential, office and much of the commercial were accurate. The City has to look at the model and if it is effective overall. The fee study states there will be approximately 80,000 trips at buildout. There are approximately 56,000 trips on the road today with 16,000 generated from approved but not built developments. In order to be effective with trip reduction, staff has to look at buildout, as well as the existing. Regional congestion is not generally looked at as an effective trip reduction program. The model takes into account the traffic going south on 1-680 and all of the existing traffic. He said staff could figure and model a significant reduction of existing into the model if Council wanted to try and simulate the real condition. Mayor Tarver appreciated his logic, but he felt the flex time required because of regional traffic congestion was not a good trip reduction strategy because it does not help the quality of life for those having to travel down the 1-680 corridor. Mr. van Gelder agreed but he has to take the measure into account. Ms. Michelotti said if the ACE commuter train increased the number of trips it would have to be factored into the model. Mr. van Gelder explained how trip distribution is calculated. He said the major change in the current model reduces the speed on 1-580 in the pm going eastbound to 25 mph. This causes the Pleasanton residents to get off the freeway and cut through the City. He gave other examples of where vehicles might get off if the speed is reduced. Ms. Dennis asked if there was anything in the manuals that would correlate level of service at intersections with jump off to mass transit as a preferred mode of transportation. Pleasanton City Council Minutes 13 09/15/98