2016 School Safety Traffic and Pedestrian Improvement Fund Annual Report Required per Ordinance 124230 Background As part of the School Road Safety Initiative, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has partnered with the Seattle Police Department (SPD) to install and operate speed cameras in school zones to enforce the 20 mile-per-hour speed limit in effect while school zone beacons are flashing. The School Road Safety Initiative aims to increase safety on streets near schools through a combination of education, street improvements, encouragement, enforcement, and evaluation. Creating a safe environment for pedestrians is the first goal of the Pedestrian Master Plan. It is also critical to the City’s commitment to Vision Zero—the goal of ending traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030. People walking and biking are involved in vehicular collisions daily. Each year, more than 150 people sustain lifechanging serious injuries and approximately 20 people die on our streets. Traffic collisions are a leading cause of death for Seattle residents. This data is collected as part of our Vision Zero High Collision Program. Whenever SPD records a collision the data is Vision Zero provided to SDOT for collection and evaluation. The core of the worldwide Vision Zero movement is the belief that death and Speed cameras are an educational and enforcement injury on city streets is preventable; tool aimed at changing driver behavior and reducing collisions are often the result of poor traffic speeds, thereby decreasing the number and the behaviors and unforgiving roadway severity of collisions. Speed cameras enforce the law designs. indiscriminately and allow police officers more time for Vision Zero integrates our safety other crime prevention activities. efforts by combining physical In July 2013, the Seattle City Council passed Ordinance improvements with targeted 124230, which created the School Zone Fixed enforcement patrols and educational Automated Cameras Fund to separately account for the outreach to address behavioral issues. revenues generated by the cameras, adopts financial policies to ensure that monies received are spent on school safety projects, and requires a year-end report to be sent to Council by March 1 each year. The report must provide the school zone fixed automated camera revenue receipts, appropriations, and expenditures for the prior year. In addition to the required items, this report details the metrics by which SDOT measures the program’s success, locations of existing cameras, a schedule for future deployments, and a list of school safety improvements made with the school zone camera revenue. 1 In November 2015, the Seattle City Council passed Ordinance 124907, which changes the name of the fund from the School Zone Fixed Automated Cameras Fund to the School Safety Traffic and Pedestrian Improvement Fund (SSTPI) and requires that ten percent of revenue generated from automated traffic safety cameras (also known as red light cameras) be directed to the fund. In November 2016, the Seattle City Council passed Ordinance 125207 adopting the 2017 budget which increases the percent of revenue generated from automated traffic safety cameras (also known as red light cameras) that is directed to the School Safety Traffic and Pedestrian Improvement Fund (SSTPI) from ten to twenty percent (G.S 44-1-B-3.). This change is effective for the 2017 budget and will be reflected in the report to Council due March 1, 2018. Success Metrics Safety is SDOT’s primary goal. The success of the school speed zone cameras is measured by an overall reduction in vehicle speeds and speeding violations in the school zones. A speed reduction analysis was completed by American Traffic Solutions (ATS), the vendor who supplies and operates the cameras, and delivered to SDOT in February 2017. Two key measures of success were reported: vehicle speed changes and recidivism rate. The graphic below tracks the change in speed (miles per hour) per month over time. Average speed over the posted limit appears to increase when new cameras are installed (see October 2015) and gradually decreases over time as drivers adjust their speed as a result of automated enforcement. Chart 1 2 Chart 2 One Paid Notice: Data from our vendor suggests that 87% identifies the number of citations that have been paid by violators that have not repeated this violation. Two Paid Notices: Data suggests that 10% of violators who have paid their first citation have repeated the violation for a second time and paid their notice. Three or More Paid Notices: Data suggests that 3% of violators have continued to repeat this activity and have received 3 or more citations that have been paid. The data source reporting 2016 information has been changed from a mobile unit mounted on the grill of a van stationed at one site during school hours to the fixed site camera information from multiple locations during school hours which is more accurate. Chart 3 Chart 3 shows the cumulative number of citations each month. CUMULATIVE CITATIONS ISSUED 2013 - 2016 50,000 Based on the four school zones (eight cameras in total) equipped with cameras since December of 2013, the total number of citations have decreased from 47,348 in 2012 to 18,024 in 2016 an overall decrease of 29,324 citations for an overall reduction of 62% since 2013. 45,000 40,000 35,000 Running Sum of Violations Citation trends help us understand and measure the success of having the cameras installed. 30,000 2013 25,000 2014 20,000 2015 15,000 2016 10,000 5,000 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Studies done by Harborview Medical Center indicates a 90 percent survival rate if a pedestrian is hit by a vehicle traveling at 20 miles per hour, compared to a 50 percent survival rate if a pedestrian is hit at 30 miles per hour. School zone 3 cameras are intended to reduce the speed of vehicles to reduce the possibility of a collision, as well as the severity if there is a collision. The data in this report suggests that the school zone camera program is having the intended effect of reducing traffic speeds in the targeted school zones. Existing Locations The current school zone fixed automated camera program is located around 14 Seattle schools with 28 cameras. Below is a list of the schools, the camera and beacon locations, the number of cameras, and the month the cameras were installed. A map of the school zone cameras is in Appendix A. Phase Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 School Olympic View Elementary BroadviewThompson K-8 Thurgood Marshal Elementary Gatewood Elementary Eckstein Middle School Bailey Gatzert Elementary Dearborn Elementary Roxhill Elementary Holy Family Elementary Bailey Gatzert Elementary Northgate Elementary Montlake Elementary Mercer Middle School K-5 STEM & Arbor Heights Elementary Rainier View Elementary Location 5th Ave NE at NE 94th St and NE 95th St Greenwood Ave N at N 130th St and N 133rd St MLK Jr Way at S Elmwood Pl and Mountains to Sound Trail Fauntleroy Way SW at SW Frontenac St and SW Myrtle St NE 7th St at 30th Ave NE and 33rd Ave NE E Yesler Way at 15th Ave S Orcas St at 26th Ave S and 28th Ave S SW Roxbury St at 28th Ave SW and 30th Ave SW SW Roxbury St at 18th Ave SW and 21st Ave SW E Yesler Way and S. Main St 1st Ave NE at N 120th St and N 117th St 24th Ave at E Calhoun St & E Lynn St 15th Ave S and S Nevada St & S Columbian Way & S Snoqualmie St Delridge Way SW at SW Juneau St and 22nd Ave SW Beacon Ave S at S Moore St and 56th Ave S 4 Number of cameras Camera installation 2 Nov 2012 2 Nov 2012 2 Nov 2012 2 Nov 2012 2 Sept 2014 1 Sept 2014 2 Sept 2014 2 Sept 2014 2 Sept 2014 2 Sept 2015 1 Sept 2015 2 Sept 2015 2 Sept 2015 2 Sept 2015 2 Sept 2015 Deployment Schedule Phase 1 Q3 Q4 2013 2013 Q1 2013 Q2 2013 Cumulative # of Cameras 8 8 8 Cumulative # of School Zones 4 4 4 Q1 2014 Q2 2014 8 8 8 4 4 4 Phase 2 Q3 Q4 2014 2014 444 17 17 9 9 Phase 3 Q1 Q3 2015 2015 17 28 9 2015 14 In phase ,1, eight cameras were installed at four schools in 2012. The City reviewed the results of this pilot project in 2013. For phase 2, nine cameras were installed at five schools at the beginning of the 2014-2015 academic year. Phase 3 included the installation of nine cameras at five new schools and an additional two cameras at Bailey Gatzert at the beginning of the 2015-2016 academic year. Cameras in phase 3 were installed in the third quarter of 2015, rather than the first quarter per the initial schedule. One reason for this delay was some phase 3 sites were deemed unviable from an installation standpoint. The installation phase is at least a three-month process after final site selection. In the future, installations will be planned for the summer break and timed to “go live” at the start of a school year, with an additional one-month delay before citations are issued. This timing will minimize construction impacts to the school, maximize parent notification, and give departments time to determine if the locations are viable. The School Safety, Traffic, and Pedestrian program has now entered a period of monitoring. There are 170 public and private schools in Seattle, and many of them abut an arterial street. Of those schools that are near an arterial street, less than half have a current speed study on file. SDOT does not plan to install any new cameras during 2016 or 2017. To establish a more thorough and proactive program to monitor speeds and safety concerns on arterial streets adjacent to all schools in Seattle, SDOT has commissioned speed studies at 130 schools (all public school zones, and a large percentage of private school zones, on arterials), including those where cameras are already present. The speed study effort wrapped up in late spring 2016 and will enable the City to make data-driven decisions about the placement of additional cameras or the relocation of existing cameras for future expansion in 2018. A listing of the 12 locations under review for additional installations in 2018 found in Appendix A. 5 Total Revenues Adopted Revenues Revised Revenue Estimates Actual Revenues 2014 2015 2016 2017 $8.6M $8.3M $8.6M $9.0M $6.0M $6.6M $13.5M - $5.1M $5.8M $13.7M - Factors influencing the revenue forecast:     Citation volumes vary by location, in large part related to the volume of traffic on the monitored street. As locations are finalized, the revenue forecast can be adjusted to build in a more accurate expectation based on traffic volumes. Drivers’ behavior will change over time in response to the cameras; therefore, after initial months of high citations, the number of citations will decrease and then are expected to stabilize over a few years. The 2016 Adopted Revenue amount of $8.6 million includes $410,000 in red light camera revenues. The 2017 Adopted Revenue amount of $9.0M includes $850,000 in red light camera revenues an increase from 10% to 20% of red light camera revenues generated. Expenditures and Financial Plan The complete financial plan, comparing revenues and expenditures, is detailed in the table below. 2016 Revised 2016 Actuals (Dollars in millions) (Dollars in millions) (Dollars in millions) (Dollars in millions) $8.6* 13.5 $13.7** $9.0 $5.4 $8.9 $1.6 $5.6 SDOT Operations and Maintenance $1.2 $1.2 $1.0 $.7 SPD and SMC Camera Operations, Administration, and Enforcement SDOT Capital $2.2 $2.2 $2.6 $2.2 $8.8 $12.3 $5.2 $8.5 2016 Adopted Revenues Expenditures SDOT Capital Total Expenditures 2017 Adopted *In addition to these revenues, the 2016 Adopted Budget also includes use of $269,000 of fund balance. ** Two Sidewalk construction packages were delayed due to unanticipated right-of-way and design issues resulting in lower than anticipated actual expenditures. These projects are scheduled for Ad in 2017. 6 Safety Improvements in 2016 Revenue from the school zone and red light cameras goes directly into safety improvements around schools. No new camera locations were added in 2016, and there are no plans to add new locations in 2017. SDOT has been systematically evaluating speeds in more than 150 school zones throughout the city, including those that are photo enforced. We are developing a plan for new locations to be installed in 2018. School Location Safety Improvement Aki Kurose Middle School 39th Ave S Low Cost Walkway Bailey Gatzert Elementary 14th Ave and S Washington Painted curb bulb with delineators BF Day Elementary Fremont Ave N and N 41st St Curb ramps and marked crosswalk Bryant Elementary NE 57th St and 33rd Ave NE Curb ramps Hazel Wolf K-8 Pinehurst Way NE 20 mph flashing beacons Ingraham High School N 135th St between Burke Ave N and Meridian Ave N Low Cost Walkway Jane Addams Middle School NE 110th St between 34th Ave NE and 35th Ave NE Low Cost Walkway Mercer Middle School 16th Ave S between S Dakota St and Lafayette Ave S Multi-use trail Northgate Elementary N 120th St; N 117th St; and Corliss Ave N Speed humps on all streets around the school N 120th St between 1st Ave N and Corliss Ave N New load zone and walking path S Henderson St & Mapes Creek Trail/53rd Ave S Painted curb bulb Rainier Ave S and S Fisher Pl New traffic signal Salmon Bay K-8 NW 67th St and 19th Ave NW Curb ramps and marked crosswalk South Shore K-8 Rainier Ave S and 51st Ave S Curb bulb and median island Wing Luke Elementary S Kenyon / S Rose St Low Cost Walkway Northgate Elementary Rainier Beach High School 7 APPENDIX A 12 locations are currently being studied for potential additional installations in 2018. They are: SCHOOL LOCATIONS 1 BF Day Elementary Fremont Ave N N 38th St N 41st St 2 Bryant Elementary 35th Ave NE NE 57th St NE 62nd St 3 Greenwood Elementary 3rd Ave NW NW 83rd St NW 79th St 4 Highland Park Elementary 16th Ave SW SW Cloverdale St SW Henderson St 5 Madrona K-8 E Union St 31st Ave E 34th Ave E 6 Martin Luther King Jr Elementary S Graham St 42nd Ave S Rainier Ave S 7 South Shore K-8 Rainier Ave S S Henderson St S Cloverdale St 8 Whittier Elementary NW 80th St 14th Ave NW 12th Ave NW 9 Ingraham High School N 130th St Meridian Ave N Ashworth Ave N 10 West Woodland Elementary NW Market St NW 55th St 7th Ave NW 11 Alki Elementary SW Admiral Way 60th Ave SW 57th Ave SW 12 Jane Addams Middle School NE 115th St 31st Ave NE 35th Ave NE 8