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BACKGROUND In 2006 the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Caltrans released their "Bay Area Locations with the Most Delay during Commute Hours" report (Attachment 2). In this report the eastbound I-580 commute in Pleasanton and the westbound I-580 commute in Livermore ranked as the worst afternoon commute and second worst morning commute in the entire bay area, respectively. In April 2003, the City Council passed a resolution supporting the activation of eastbound I-580 ramp meters and a memorandum of understanding with Caltrans regarding the implementation and operation of ramp meters on I-580 (Attachment 3). Two months later the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) activated eastbound ramp meters on I-580 at Hopyard Road, Hacienda Drive, and Santa Rita Road during the afternoon commute to improve freeway operations and help reduce the amount of cut-thru traffic using Pleasanton streets to bypass freeway congestion. While the metering was successful in reducing cut-through traffic in the northern section of town, some regional cut-through traffic continued to avoid I-580 by using Pleasanton and Livermore surface streets to access unmetered onramps in Livermore. In conjunction with the Cities of Pleasanton, Livermore, and Dublin, Caltrans activated all remaining Tri-valley I-580 eastbound ramp meters on January 22, 2008. With each eastbound onramp in the Tri-valley metered, any travel times saved by using Pleasanton and Livermore surface streets to access eastbound I-580 onramps in Livermore were eliminated. Once the meters were activated, Caltrans personnel conducted travel time runs on eastbound I-580 between Foothill Road and North Flynn Road to quantify the travel time improvements along the corridor. Corridor travel times improved by twenty to forty percent. A detailed before and after study will be completed in the next two. months to further identify operational impacts and improvements to I-580 and local arterials. City staff also conducted before and after studies to determine ramp metering impacts on eastbound Stoneridge Drive, a corridor with significant afternoon cut-through traffic. Between the hours of 3 PM and 7 PM, eastbound Stoneridge Drive traffic volumes decreased by twenty five percent. Staff believes that downstream ramp metering and travel time improvements along eastbound I-580 have contributed to a reduction in traffic volume on eastbound Stoneridge Drive by redirecting regional cut-through traffic from Stoneridge Drive back to I-680 and I-580. DISCUSSION Staff has received overwhelmingly positive response from local residents as a result of the recent ramp metering activation. Preliminary before and after data collected by Caltrans and City staff also suggests that ramp metering has improved travel times on eastbound I-580 and reduced regional cut-through traffic in Pleasanton during the afternoon commute. Page 2 of 3