1 OFFICIAL MINUTES
OF THE CULVER CITY
MOBILITY, TRAFFIC, AND PARKING SUBCOMMITTEE
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE August 9, 2022
CULVER CITY MOBILITY, 3:00 p.m.
TRAFFIC, AND PARKING SUBCOMMITTEE
CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA
Call to Order & Roll Call
Council Member Eriksson called the special meeting of the Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee to order at 3:05 p.m. in the Dan Patacchia Meeting Room at City Hall
Present: Göran Eriksson, Council Member
Alex Fisch, Council Member*
*Council Member Fisch arrived at 3:09 p.m.
Staff Present: Yanni Demetri, Public Works Director
Andrew Maximous, Mobility and Traffic
Engineering Manager
Diana Chang, Transportation and Mobility
Planning Manager
Michael Tobin, Deputy Transportation Officer
Alicia Ide, Management Analyst
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Pledge of Allegiance
Michelle Weiner led the Pledge of Allegiance.
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Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee
August 9, 2022
2 Items from Members/Staff
None.
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Public Comment for Items NOT On the Agenda
Council Member Eriksson invited public comment.
The following members of the public addressed the
Subcommittee:
Mary Daval reported that Karim Sahli was out of town, noting that if he were present, he would be speaking about the importance of providing hybrid meetings to allow for greater participation as was experienced when that option was
available.
Michelle Weiner thanked the Committee for making time for the public; expressed appreciation for the attention being paid to safety for school children and for all efforts being made by staff to make improvements; discussed bulb-outs; riding with young people; concern with visibility at the corner of Eastham and National; and the situation at Green Valley Circle.
David Metzler discussed Green Valley Circle and Doverwood; posted speed vs. speed travelled; AB (Assembly Bill) 43; the need to reduce traffic speed City-wide; pedestrians; he advocated for reducing speeds to 20 miles per hour in
neighborhoods; and he noted the need to reduce overall traffic speed City-wide.
David Coles expressed appreciation for the work done to open the Jackson Gate; discussed the pedestrian fatality in the crosswalk on Doverwood during the day; lack of charges to be filed as the driver was not at fault; concern that the system is not working; he requested a City-wide conversation about reducing speed limits; and other cities that have reduced speed limits.
Ken Mand expressed support for a study of reducing speed limits City-wide; discussed MOVE Culver City; envisioning solutions; allocating resources; and the next phase.
Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee
August 9, 2022
3 Yanni Demitri, Public Works Director, discussed enhancing safety in Fox Hills; consultant work in process on plans for enhanced safety for all modes of traffic; planned meetings in Fox Hills to solicit public feedback; features of planned improvements; estimated cost of the project; funding; speed surveys; changes to state law; regular studies; streets coming up for renewal; adjusting speed limits; and he promised to convey the message about virtual meetings at the next Executive meeting.
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Receive and File Correspondence
MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ERIKSSON, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER
FISCH AND UNANIMOUSLY CARRIED, THAT THE MOBILTY, TRAFFIC, AND PARKING SUBCOMMITTEE RECEIVE AND FILE CORRESPONDENCE.
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Consent Calendar Items
Item C-1
Approval of Minutes for the Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee Special Meeting of May 10, 2022
MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER FISCH, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER
ERIKSSON AND UNANIMOUSLY CARRIED, THAT THE MOBILITY, TRAFFIC,
AND PARKING SUBCOMMITTEE APPROVE MINUTES FOR THE SPECIAL MEETING OF MAY 10, 2022.
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Order of the Agenda
No changes were made.
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Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee
August 9, 2022
4 Action Items
Item A-1
(1) Receive a Presentation from the Los Angeles Department of Transportation on the Venice Boulevard Mobility Improvement Project; and (2) Provide Direction to Staff
Diana Chang, Transportation and Mobility Planning Manager, introduced the joint Venice Boulevard Safety and Mobility Project between Public Works and Transportation; discussed creation of a bus lane and protected bike lane on Venice Boulevard; bringing awareness to the community about the project; she introduced Jay Greenstein from Council District 5, Eric Bruins from Council District 11, and representatives from Metro and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT); and she announced a virtual community open house on August 31 hosted by LADOT.
Charlie Ho, LADOT, provided a presentation on the Venice Boulevard Safety and Mobility Project; provided background on the item; discussed Vision Zero; goals; the project area; existing conditions; and accident data.
James Shahamiri, Metro, discussed Metro ridership on Venice Boulevard; potential improvements; safety; protecting
bicycles; bus speed; ridership; and demographics.
Charlie Ho, LADOT, discussed challenges for cyclists and drivers; possible configurations; parking; sightlines; the timeline; community engagement; and the virtual community workshop on August 31 noting that more information was
available at ladotlivablestreets.org/projects/venice or by emailing [email protected].
Discussion ensued between project representatives, staff, and Subcommittee Members regarding engineering studies or surveys leading up to the project; information to be collected at the planned August 31 community meeting; affects to travel time from previous street reconfiguration projects; the three lane miles of paradigm shifting mobility; the Olympics; existing conditions; the Level of Service analysis conducted by Metro; overflow traffic into the neighborhoods; intersection
capacity; understanding what delays will be; the impact of delays on future divergent analysis; the program of
improvements to increase bus ridership; the Nextgen Bus Study; adding infrastructure; choice riders; and outreach.
Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee
August 9, 2022
5 Council Member Eriksson invited public comment.
The following members of the public addressed the
Subcommittee:
Mary Daval expressed support for the project; discussed problematic intersections; safety issues created by trash and debris in the bike lane; and she received assurance that the bike lanes would be kept clean.
David Metzler discussed perception of speed and psychology, and he received clarification that the psychology of human behavior and influencing driver expectations and behaviors is part of the process.
David Coles expressed support and gratitude for the project; discussed first mile/last mile and the need for bike racks along Venice Boulevard; the importance of signalized
pedestrian crossings; and he received clarification that signalized mid-block crossings would not be included in the current project phase and that a grant from Metro would help integrate bicycles with transit.
Jay Greenstein from Council Member Paul Koretz’s office discussed collaboration with Culver City staff on other projects; opportunities to help cyclists and transit riders; constituent engagement; combining the project with the
resurfacing project; potential pushback; the engagement process; and work to achieve final design approval before Paul Koretz leaves office in December.
Ken Mand discussed resurfacing; the importance of considering storm drain elevations; curb lines; bike platforms; outreach; and he invited the team to do outreach at the Art Walk and Roll Festival on October 8.
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding appreciation to the representatives for the
presentation and for their collaboration with staff.
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Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee
August 9, 2022
6 Item A-2
(1) Discussion Regarding Establishing Parking Maximums; and (2) Direction to Staff
Gabriela Silva, Associate Planner, provided a summary of the material of record.
Discussion ensued between staff and Council Members regarding initial feedback; research; available methods; appreciation for allowing flexibility; maximums with a route to provide options to exceed the amount; the practices of other cities; concern with making changes that make the City less attractive to developers; a request to create stakeholder groups to get feedback from development communities; consequences of
eliminating minimums; and concern with the public providing parking without getting any benefit.
Council Member Eriksson invited public input.
The following members of the public addressed the
Subcommittee:
Jim Suhr discussed his experience as a developer; support from developers for reducing parking; the need to create something that users will value and can operate in; parking demand in the creative office market in Silicon Beach (which Culver City is a part of); changes to parking requirements; evolution of the market and market demand from tenants; commercial vs. residential development; state density bonus law; the policy as being ahead of the current market; need to account for locational differences; the need for continuous evaluation; and monitoring as technology and society embraces the shift in mobility.
David Coles indicated being a small developer; expressed concern with being required to build minimum parking that is not needed instead of housing; discussed policies in other cities; demand; priorities; issue of lenders who feel that parking is essential and how that impacts project financing; and support of car sharing as part of the solution.
Michelle Weiner questioned who was driving the conversation; discussed including tenants in the conversation; the fact that the future is not very far away and will not require as much parking; costs to provide parking; limiting required parking and finding workarounds; providing more flexibility Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee
August 9, 2022
7 to encourage builders; and providing more space for human beings.
Additional discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding the importance of flexibility; car industry projections; developers having a better understanding of the market; understanding what would make a developer not build a project; the need to have a meeting with developers;
differences between areas that are adjacent to Metro;
treating areas separately; length of time it takes to get projects developed; fees to provide flexibility; using
minimums as a maximum level to start for mitigations or discretionary process; the need for input from the
development community; the need for additional research; and direction to invite developers to the next subcommittee meeting for discussion.
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Item A-3
(1) Receive a Presentation on the Transportation Service Key Performance Indicators; and (2) Provide Direction to Staff
Council Members Eriksson and Fisch asked that best wishes be extended to Rolando Cruz in dealing with health challenges in his family.
Michael Tobin, Deputy Transportation Officer, introduced the item noting the focus on monitoring performance areas and achieving department goals.
Kaitlyn Zhang, Transportation Management Analyst, indicated it was the second year of providing quarterly Key Performance Indicator (KPI) reports to the Subcommittee; discussed the four major service areas: CityBus, CityRide, CityShare, and CityFleet; service changes; operations under safety
conditions for COVID; recovery of services; the recent grant award from FTA for a comprehensive service analysis; goals; the Fiscal Year 2022 KPI summary; and CityBus ridership.
Ken Bales, Transit Operations Management Analyst, discussed the Culver CityBus GoPass Program with the Culver City Unified School District (CCUSD); early departures; and total monthly trips for CityRide (Dial-A-Ride).
Kaitlyn Zhang, Transportation Management Analyst, announced Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee
August 9, 2022
8 that the current agreement between Culver City and Wheels would not be extended; discussed CityShare; total trips per month; and further evaluation of the micro-mobility program.
Nestor Ducreux, Fleet Services Management Analyst, discussed CityFleet; preventative maintenance; labor efficiency; EV efficiency; and cost savings per mile.
Michael Tobin, Deputy Transportation Officer, discussed tracking of monthly KPIs.
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding staffing shortages; recruitment efforts; early departures; a new software that was recently purchased to allow for monitoring of service; discrepancies; a request for information on types of vehicles used in the micro-mobility program; available data; continuing work to improve services; efforts to get back to pre-pandemic ridership; the grant received for the comprehensive service analysis; addressing transportation demands; engagement of choice riders;
infrastructure; looking at other alternatives; the need for a Comprehensive Service Analysis (CSA); behavior changes; and increasing bike mobility.
Council Member Eriksson invited public input.
The following members of the public addressed the
Subcommittee:
Mary Duval indicated that the presentation had answered all of her questions.
Ken Mand felt it was important to make the Circulator as reliable as possible; noted the need to win over people; and the need for bike racks.
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding Circulator frequency; vehicle tracking equipment; supply chain issues; the uptick in ridership due to the extended route; staffing challenges; the pilot period;
challenges with the vehicles; reliability; and the intent to add the Circulator to Next CCBus.
David Coles discussed the unreliability of certain private companies; the need for public service; support for Metro BikeShare in Culver City; fuel savings; windows on the
electric buses; and he requested an update on bus cameras.
Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee
August 9, 2022
9 Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding opening windows on buses and clarification that costs related to the cameras had precluded their
implementation during the pilot phase.
David Metzler received clarification that the City was
looking for information on other bike providers and he noted the importance of competition among providers to obtain competitive pricing.
Kaitlyn Zhang, Transportation Management Analyst, discussed the impact of Wheels pulling out of participation and
implementation of the Metro BikeShare program.
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Item A-4
(1) Receive a Presentation on the CityBus Electrification Project
Michael Tobin, Deputy Transportation Officer, discussed electric bus and facility electrification objectives; the long-term electrification transition plan; the infrastructure build; the pilot phase; and funding.
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding the funding shortfall.
Council Member Eriksson invited public comment.
No requests to speak were received.
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Public Comment for Items NOT on the Agenda
Council Member Eriksson invited public participation.
Alicia Ide, Management Analyst, reported no requests to speak.
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Items from Staff/Subcommittee Members
Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee
August 9, 2022
10 Andrew Maximous, Mobility and Traffic Engineering Manager, indicated that the Jackson Gate would be opened on a temporary basis beginning August 11; he added that the bollards were still on order and not expected for another couple of months; discussed the bike lane for Washington/Adams; and
improvements for Safe Routes to School.
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding challenges due to staffing levels and the vacant Senior Engineering position.
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