City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: July 28, 2020
Agenda Item: 7.B
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: David Martin, Director, Administration
Subject: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance amending Transportation Demand Management, Preferential Parking, Pedicabs and Bikeshare Recommended Action
Staff recommends that, to reflect recent operational changes effectuated by the budget and staffing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the City Council:
(1) introduce for first reading the attached ordinance amending Chapter 3.08 Preferential Parking Zones, Chapter 3.20 Bikeshare, Chapter 6.50 Pedicabs, and Chapter 9.53 Transportation Demand Management; and,
(2) give direction to transition the Taxicab Franchise-based system to a permitbased system.
Summary
Changes to the Santa Monica Municipal Code (SMMC) and transportation procedures are necessary to align with restructuring of City services adopted by the Council to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and its long-term economic impacts. Staff recommends adoption of the proposed ordinance to implement the most time-sensitive changes in the areas of Employer Trip Reduction, Preferential Parking, Pedicabs and Bikeshare programs, as follows:
• SMMC Chapter 9.53—Transportation Demand Management: suspend requirements, including the Emissions Reduction and Worksite Transportation plans, for employers of 49 people or fewer; suspend City rideshare program; and reduce Transportation Management Organization services; • SMMC Chapter 6.50—Pedicabs: eliminate the requirement for a local pedicab driver permit and operator permit; retain existing requirements for a business license, insurance, inspection decal, and pedicab driver and carriage requirements, and update SMMC to remain in compliance with State law; 2 of 9
• SMMC Chapter 3.08—Preferential Parking Zones: suspend designation of new or amended preferential parking zones for a period of 4 years; continue to implement pre-approved zones and issue and renew permits in existing zones; • SMMC Chapter 3.20—Bikeshare: enable a commercial operator to run the City’s public bike share system in the public-right-of-way.
Staff also seeks direction on pursuing changes to SMMC Chapter 6.49—Taxicabs to transition the current franchise-based system to a permit-based system and pursue regional permitting options.
Background
On May 5, 2020, Council considered citywide restructuring necessitated by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. This included reconsideration of staffing, program funding, and contractual obligations in order to address the projected budget shortfall. On June 9, 2020, Council considered a draft budget proposal that identified budget impacts on staff activities and services. On June 23, 2020, Council approved a citywide budget that established FY20/21 departmental budgets and finalized staffing and resource changes. The Santa Monica Municipal Code (SMMC) includes several transportation-related provisions that require changes to align with the adopted restructuring.
Discussion
On June 9, 2020, Council received details of how City services and programs are being restructured to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and its long-term economic impact.
Citywide changes included operational, maintenance and permitting functions that eliminated internal functional capacity for street striping and signs, engineering, rideshare, neighborhood traffic calming and grant reporting due to the loss of 16 staff dedicated to these efforts. Some changes identified in the transportation services and programs require updates to relevant SMMC sections as identified in this report.
Redline changes to the code sections are provided in Attachment A, the proposed ordinance.
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1. Transportation Demand Management (TDM)
Changes to SMMC Chapter 9.53—Transportation Demand Management, internal rideshare program, and Transportation Management Organization services.
Santa Monica established its Transportation Demand Management Ordinance (TDM) in 1993, with the goals of proactively reducing congestion, reducing automobile dependence, improving air quality and enhancing transportation choices. It is modeled closely after Rule 2202 administered by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The TDM Ordinance requires employers of a certain size to submit either a Worksite Transportation Plan or an Emission Reduction Plan. Contents of a Worksite Transportation Plan include estimations of transportation mode choices for staff, on-site information requirements, and a signed letter from management demonstrating commitment to reducing drive alone trips to and from the worksite. The Emission Reduction Plan, more robust in nature, requires an employer to survey employees about how they arrived and departed work over a 5-day period, calculate Average Vehicle Ridership (AVR), and reach a designated target AVR based on worksite location. Employers completing an Emission Reduction Plan who do not reach their AVR target either create a plan describing how over the course of the next year they will reduce the number of drive alone trips to the worksite or purchase mobile source emission reduction credits from a verified vendor. In past years, staff supported businesses through this program with annual commuter resources and non-auto commuting guidance, facilitating collaboration among businesses for carpool, vanpool and parking, and more recently some problem-solving for commuter and customer access needs following COVID-19.
City restructuring has impacted the ability to continue regulating this many employers and providing these additional support resources. In 2016, Santa Monica amended the TDM Ordinance by increasing AVR targets citywide and increasing the applicability of the greater requirements of the Emission Reduction Plan to business of 30 employees or more (instead of 50+). Staff is proposing to update SMMC Chapter 9.53 to return to pre-2016 thresholds that apply the ERP requirements only to employers with 50 or more employees. Additionally, staff is proposing to suspend Worksite Transportation Requirements entirely. The proposed updates would suspend these requirements until 4 of 9
September 2024 or until restoration of program resources. The changes do not affect procedures for employers with 50 or more employees or developers.
As an employer, the City is subject to employee trip reduction requirements from AQMD, and as a facilities builder (such as City Hall East) is subject to local TDM requirements for developers. Restructuring reduces the capacity of our internal programs and includes the suspension of the City’s internal employee trip reduction program (in compliance with any requirements imposed by labor group MOUs) including incentives for transit, vanpool, carpool, etc. until resources are available. Additionally, restructuring resulted in a reduction of the Transportation Management Organization (TMO) contract from $250,000 to $195,000 for FY20/21, with half of the remaining contract funded by development agreement contributions. The TMO supports medium and large employers through the provision of transportation solutions, encouraging green commuting and teleworking, and improving worksite access.
2. Pedicabs
Changes to SMMC Chapter 6.50—Pedicabs, which eliminate the requirement for a local pedicab driver permit and operator permit. The changes retain requirements for a business license, insurance, inspection decal, and pedicab driver and carriage requirements in compliance with State law.
Santa Monica adopted pedicab regulations in 2013 which were informed by a year-long pilot program in 1998. Current SMMC regulations require a pedicab driver permit, operator permit, pedicab inspection decal, business license, and outline operating requirements such as minimum driver age, driver’s license, pedicab cleanliness and safe operations. Detailed Administrative Regulations were issued in 2013 to accompany Section 6.50. Local rules also require each driver to successfully complete a pedicab driver class. In 2015, the State established California Vehicle Code (CVC) Section 21215 regulating the safe operation of pedicabs and establishing insurance, annual incident reporting, routing and loading/unloading requirements. 5 of 9
City restructuring has impacted the ability to continue the local permitting of drivers and operators. CVC 21215 has filled the prior gap in safety provisions and operating expectations, but still requires local agencies to inspect pedicabs annually. Staff is proposing to update the SMMC to retain language regarding pedicab vehicle equipment standards and driver qualifications, update to align with State regulations, and to continue requiring annual inspections for a fee. The proposed update would eliminate the requirement for local permitting and classes until there is a restoration of resources for this program.
The Business License Unit would continue business license processing and insurance verification, pedicab rules would be enforced by Code Enforcement staff, and “rules of the road” would be enforced by the Police Department as they do today.
3. Taxicabs
Direction to pursue changes to SMMC Chapter 6.49—Taxicabs to transition the current Franchise program to a permit program and seek regional permitting options.
Santa Monica has the authority to regulate for-hire vehicles within the city. In June 2009, Council adopted an ordinance establishing a franchise-based system for the regulation of taxicabs. The franchise was initially established to address an oversupply of taxis in the market and operating standards. In November 2010, Council approved franchise agreements with five companies, which operated with extensions for approximately eight years. In 2018, Council approved simplified taxicab permitting in compliance with California State law (AB1069) and approved a franchise with one company that is substantially located in Santa Monica: TMAT Corp., dba. Taxi! Taxi!.
AB1069 was passed in response to the market challenges created by Transportation Network Companies (TNCs, such as Uber and Lyft), and reduced local regulation to those taxicab companies which are “substantially located” in the jurisdiction. AB1069 also enables a regional or other agency to perform the permitting function on behalf of local agencies. Staff has been in regular communication with cities throughout the region to explore regional permitting function and best practices for local regulation. 6 of 9
Some cities are transitioning their franchise systems to permit systems including the City of Los Angeles. Franchise systems are time consuming to create, and once created are closed to new providers and are difficult to update. The permit system would allow for more flexibility and openness to new customer services, while still enabling requirements for accessibility, fare maximums and other core benefits of the franchise system. A permit system does eliminate a franchise holder’s right to a market area, but this exclusivity was already undone by recent state law that allowed any company to serve a “pre-arranged” trip in the city. Once Los Angeles’ permitting system is operational, they may be able to facilitate permitting on our behalf through a Memorandum of Understanding or other agreement.
In light of Santa Monica’s restructuring that resulted in the elimination of staff resources for this program, and the changing market dynamics of taxicab services which has eliminated the concern regarding oversupply, staff recommends that Santa Monica move toward a regional permitting solution, and initiate those steps in coordination with the local franchise company. The current franchise agreement with Taxi! Taxi! has a termination date of December 31, 2023 or earlier at the discretion of the City. A regional permit system does not yet exist, and as one becomes available staff would pursue it in coordination with Taxi! Taxi! This does not preclude the City from establishing a local permitting solution for taxicabs and similar transportation providers with a future restoration.
4. Residential Preferential Parking Program
Changes to SMMC Chapter 3.08—Preferential Parking Zones to suspend designation of new or amended preferential parking zones for a period of four years, or until restoration of staff resources. These changes do not affect the ability to obtain and renew permits in existing zones or the implementation of pre-approved zones.
Currently, the City’s residential streets are largely blanketed by residential preferential parking zones that are already implemented or pre-approved. City staff answer hundreds of calls and emails each year regarding changes to preferential parking, collect parking occupancy data, assist with resident notifications, host community 7 of 9
meetings, and prepare analyses to support amendments to the preferential parking program. Restructuring has eliminated staff resources to process changes to the preferential parking program, requiring the suspension of new or amended residential preferential parking zones for an estimated period of four years (until September 2024) or until restoration of the program. Zones that have been pre-approved by Council and in which residents are able to independently collect the required signatures will continue to be implemented during this period. Suspend interdepartmental coordination toward implementation of the unbundled parking Section 9.28.110.A.1 which will result in the continued ability of residents of new mixed-use projects in commercial zones to have access to preferential parking district permits.
This change would be incorporated into SMMC 3.08.080:
3.08.080 – Suspension on the designation of new or amendment of existing zones. No new zones will be designated, nor any existing zones amended, during the period of September 24, 2020 through September 24, 2024. Zones that have been preapproved will continue to be implemented during this period, and qualified petitions received by September 24, 2020 will be processed.
Applications received before the effective date of the ordinance amendment would also continue to be processed including:
• Petitions to reduce existing restrictions on Hill Street between 21st and 23rd streets and 25th Street between Idaho and Washington avenues • Petitions to amend existing regulations from blocks in the vicinity of Harvard Street and Wilshire Boulevard, including but not limited to: Harvard Street between Washington and Arizona avenues and Princeton Street between Wilshire Boulevard and Arizona Avenue
• Application for California Coastal Commission approval of the expansion of Zone F, which Council approved on February 25, 2020
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5. Bikeshare
Changes to SMMC Chapter 3.20 which enables public bike share other than the City’s designated operator.
SMMC Chapter 3.20 was adopted just prior to the introduction of the City’s Breeze bike share system in 2015. This section created enabling language for a public bike share system operated by the City to function in the public right-of-way. As part of direction to continue piloting shared mobility services, Council directed staff to investigate options for public bike share that could deliver the affordability, reliability, equity and outreach elements of the Breeze program but be operated by a private commercial entity. Staff recently released a request for information regarding the potential for a private operator to achieve these public outcomes. This minor update to Chapter 3.20 would enable a private commercial entity to operate a public bike share system in the public right-ofway, that meets the aforementioned criteria, should an operator be identified in the future.
Next Steps
Upon first reading, the amended ordinance will return to Council for a second reading/adoption and take effect 30 days after adoption. Affected businesses will be notified of the reduced or adjusted regulations as their permits and approvals come up for renewal. If directed to pursue a taxicab permit-based system, staff will work with the City Attorney’s office and regional agencies to define process, procedures, and timeline. 9 of 9
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the recommended actions. The financial impacts were previously discussed during the May 5, May 26, and June 23, 2020 Council budget sessions and included in the FY 2020-21 Adopted Budget.
Prepared by: Francie Stefan, Assistant Director/Chief Mobility Officer Attachments
A. Ordinance amending SMMC Chapters 3.08 Preferential Parking, 3.20 Bikeshare,
6.50 Pedicabs, and 9.53 Transportation Demand Management Prepared By: Francie Stefan, Assistant Director/Chief Mobility Officer Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Proposed Ordinance