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Traffic Congestion |
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Unacceptable/Acceptable Traffic
Congestion 2004 |
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INDICATOR |
Number of congested intersections |
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STATUS |
Fair |
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TREND |
Stable |
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DESCRIPTION |
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Traffic
congestion is a problem in Santa Monica. Several
intersections have unacceptable levels of
congestion during the morning and evening
commute hours. Additionally there are a few
intersections that have traffic congestion
throughout the day.
The target for this indicator is a downward
trend in the number of intersections with
unacceptable congestion, a downward trend in the
number of locally classified streets that exceed
desired traffic levels, and an upward trend in
the level of service for sustainable modes of
transportation. |
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PERFORMANCE SUMMARY |
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Number of
Intersections
In both 2000 and 2004, 23 intersections had
unacceptably high levels of congestion. This
means that they had a LOS grade of D, E or F and
a corresponding wait time of 20 seconds or more.
The 23 intersections could have had an
unacceptable level of service during the am, pm
or both time periods.
LOS Sustainable Transportation
Data is not currently available to report on the
level of service (LOS) for sustainable modes of
transportation at impacted intersections or for
the locally classified streets that exceed city
thresholds for traffic levels. |
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ANALYSIS |
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The city has a goal of creating a multi-modal transportation system that minimizes and, where possible, eliminates pollution and motor vehicle congestion. This indicator measures the number of signalized intersections with unacceptable motor vehicle congestion (LOS D,E or F) during peak hours, the level of service (LOS) for sustainable modes of transportation at impacted intersections, and the locally classified streets that exceed
city thresholds for traffic levels.
Level of Service (LOS) is reported in letter grades. Each letter grade corresponds to a measured range of time at any intersection. The table below shows the corresponding times for each letter grade.
In summary, this measure defines acceptable or
unacceptable congestion levels, and categorizes
intersections accordingly, ultimately yielding a
number of unacceptably congested intersections.
Given that definition, no improvement seems to
have occurred in our congestion situation.
There has, however, been movement.
For
example, during the morning commute, 38
intersections have improved their levels of
service, and 25
those have even moved from a D, E, or F LOS to
the “acceptable” levels of A, B or C.
Generally,
while there have
improvements
in morning congestion in some spots, there has
also been a corresponding worsening in afternoon
congestion in others, so there appears to be no
net change. Still, the city’s Transportation
Management Division is using all the technical
and planning tools at its disposal to address
this problem.
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Level of Service |
Average Vehicle Delay |
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A |
< seconds |
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B |
>5 and <10 seconds |
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C |
>10 and < 20 seconds |
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D |
>20 and < 30 seconds |
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E |
>30 and < 45 seconds |
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F |
>45 seconds |
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WHAT CAN WE DO TO IMPROVE? |
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Use more sustainable modes of transit. Check the
Environmental Programs Division website
suggestions. |
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DATA SOURCES |
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View source material in Excel:
T8_TrafficCongestion.xls.
Email contact for data source inquires. |
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PRINTING TIPS
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Printing tips for MS Internet Explorer |
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LAST UPDATED
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August 2005 |
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CITATION |
www.smepd.org/scpr |
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