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. . . to discuss traffic enforcement data analysis. |
February 10, 2009Committee Report #1
TRANSPORTATION, TRAFFIC AND PARKING COMMITTEE MEMBERS
The Transportation, Traffic and Parking Committee held a public meeting on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at five o'clock and thirty-five minutes PM in the Sullivan Chamber. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss traffic enforcement data analysis. Present at the meeting were Councillor Craig Kelley, Chair of the Committee, Mayor E. Denise Simmons, Lieutenant Jack Albert, Sergeant Kathy Murphy, Police Department, Sue Clippinger, Director, Traffic, Parking and Transportation and Deputy City Clerk Donna P. Lopez. Also present were Steve Miller, 92 Henry Street, Sarah Farrington, 18 Frost Street and Carolyn Shipley, 15 Laurel Street. Councillor Kelley convened the meeting and explained the purpose. He hoped to hear what the police can and cannot do to collect data. The committee heard from Lieutenant Jack Albert who gave a PowerPoint Presentation (ATTACHMENT A). He explained the planning stage would incorporate historical data and up-to-date spatial and temporal analysis of vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian accidents. Under the current system, it is tough to pull all the data together. Two components were added to the computer system to provide quarterly reports. The 2008 strategic plan is to have police presence in hot spots. Five hotspot areas were identified. Councillor Kelley asked if accidents and enforcement would be analyzed. Lieutenant Albert responded in the affirmative. Councillor Kelley cited Central Square as an example with 25 accidents and 500 citations what else could be done. Lieutenant Albert responded directed enforcement hours. Mr. Miller asked what the data source is. Lieutenant Albert stated that the data sources are accidents, state data, citizen complaints, citations issued and directed enforcement. Mr. Miller asked if the data was computerized. Lieutenant Albert stated that two computer components would be added to make the system easier. The State changed reporting criteria five years go as they were just getting pure data, now boxes get checked on the form for later entry in a data system. Councillor Kelley asked if the statistics are available for Pemberton/Fairfield Streets. The police have the information on the number of accidents, but this does not tell the problem. Accidents need to be reviewed to see if they are caused as a result of an engineer design issue. Councillor Kelley asked about the search capability of the system. He was informed that the state changed their reporting process. The state process can analyze; Cambridge cannot do this type of analysis. Lieutenant Albert does a monthly report of violations, but it is just a raw number. Every cruiser has a laptop, but data entry abilities are limited. In 1993, Lieutenant Albert was an accident investigator and he used a pin board to record accident locations. Lieutenant Albert stated that red light citation issued to a bicyclist could be recorded; but it is only a number and does not tell where citation was issued. Sergeant Murphy could develop that data. Modes will be added to the computer system. The accident reports are not computerized yet. The break down behind the numbers is not available now. Central Square has always been a large accident area. The goal of the Traffic, Parking and Transportation, Police and Community Development Departments is to reduce speeding. Massachusetts Avenue was narrowed to slow the cars down. Councillor Kelley asked what intersection statistics would be given. The time, day of the week will be provided by the new computer system stated Lieutenant Albert. This information will direct police to areas where needed. Enforcement is about knowing the fishing holes, but these are not necessarily high accident locations. The goal of traffic enforcement is to reduce injury and accidents, and this will happen with directed enforcement at the accident locations. Councillor Kelley commented that people value things that can be measured. Lieutenant Albert stated that of the five top hot spots a snapshot was done on Central Square/Area Four in an effort to direct resources were needed. Councillor Kelley asked what constitutes a hot spot. Lieutenant Albert stated it is the number of accidents occurring. He spoke about reporting accidents to the state police and the need for a uniform accident reporting form. The State Police enter their data for accidents on ‘their' roads. Mr. Miller asked if the Registry of Motor Vehicle (RMV) information could be downloaded. Lieutenant Albert told of an accident that occurred at Mass. Ave. and Alewife. The Cambridge system would not take the accident report. It was sent to the state. Mr. Miller asked if the state information was computerized. Lieutenant Albert said we were lucky to get 2007 data. The police only find out about reportable accidents. Councillor Kelley stated that he was in three collisions this year. They were not reported because there was no damage. If accidents are not reported the police have no data so the data collected will be very inconsistent in terms of missing 'near accident' or minor accidents that still present a serious danger. Councillor Kelley asked how different accidents are weighed in reports. Lieutenant Albert said that there was no formal way of differing between accidents without studying individual causes. Mayor Simmons inquired if there was a motor vehicle accident report would this data be captured. Lieutenant Albert responded in the negative. Only if there was $1,000 property damage, personal injury or hit and run. Mayor Simmons stated that it is important to file a minor accident report. The general public fears their insurance premium rising. This is an education piece. It is important to file with the police a minor fender bender, but this report is not sent to the RMV. She stressed the need for the report for safety versus insurance claims. Lieutenant Albert stated that data on fender benders could be linked to an engineering design issue and having this information could prevent fatalities. Signage reengineering is reviewed. Lieutenant Albert noted that while cars were not necessarily always at fault in an accident it would take a lot of hand searching of accident reports to mine that information. Mr. Miller stated that the structure needs to be fixed and training done through enforcement. He hoped that the new modes would be helpful, as the Police Department's current data analysis abilities appeared pretty minimal. He stated that there is a distinction between criminal and traffic misbehavior. With traffic it is structural or you never catch the problem, you cannot solve the traffic issues through enforcement. Lieutenant Albert stated that the police will deploy saturation enforcement as the perception of enforcement is important. Ms. Farrington stated that this was done last year is there data on this. Lieutenant Albert responded in the negative; it is hard to quantify. Councillor Kelley commented that enforcement changes behavior. Ms. Farrington stated that she yells at motorists who run red lights. The effort is to have people obey the law. She stated that she has an issue with people who walk out in front of the cars. Carolyn Shipley stated that the problem is structural. She spoke about signage and design. Passengers departing the T - structure should be changed to funnel pedestrians to the intersection. Lieutenant Albert stated that directed patrol is generally thirty minutes of visible patrol. Councillor Kelley asked if data is collected on non-citation versus citation violation. Lieutenant Albert stated that every stop requires a "stop form" filled out with information containing whether a citation was issued. Stop forms are not as detailed as actual citations, which actually capture the type of violation. The stop forms are more about racial profiling and are purely motor vehicle forms. No stop forms are used for bikes or pedestrians. There were 1,550 citation issued for the top six intersections. Ms. Shipley wanted to know if there was a dollar amount associated with the citations; is this in the budget. Lieutenant Albert stated that the checks are sent to the RMV; Cambridge keeps 50%, which was about $500,000 last year. The state uses its share of the money to pay for various programs.
Lieutenant Albert stated that directed enforcement is broken down into categories:
Councillor Kelley questioned the motor vehicle stop hours with the new computer system. Lieutenant Albert stated that twenty minutes are allowed for motor vehicle stops; this data only show traffic stops while the officers do general law enforcement as well. He further stated that enforcement effort is successful with accidents down from 15.75 to 6 in 2008. Lieutenant Albert stated that the accident reports are being analyzed for the intersection of Mason and Garden Streets. There are a lot of parking violations at this location. When the analysis is completed it may show that this is not the top accident spot. Ms. Farrington stated that the system needs to classify, categorize and filter the information. She asked if the new system would interface with the current system. Lieutenant Albert answered in the affirmative. The goal of the Police Department is to have a tool to analyze traffic data. The current tool was developed in-house. Lieutenant Albert said that the Request For Proposals to develop the data tool would cover all of the relevant information points. This information is necessary to direct the resources. Ms. Farrington stated that the user information needs to be conveyed in the design process. Lieutenant Albert stated that according to the report there is an increase in bike crashes, but there is also an increase in bicycle use. Councillor Kelley asked how much work is being done to look at the bike accident information. Sergeant Murphy responded that it is easy to pick out the bike accidents. Ms. Shipley asked if date, time and weather conditions on accidents would be put into the computer. Lieutenant Albert stated that the state accident report document is not used for bicycle accidents but that dooring information is collected on citations. It takes a lot of ‘leg work' to review data about accidents. The Traffic, Transportation and Parking Department is collecting collision information and reviewing it. Lieutenant Albert reported that in the Central Square block 400 to 600 there was an average of 7.5 pedestrian accidents from 2002 - 2006. Cambridge captures pedestrians hit by bicycle data. There's a ‘halo' effect on crime when there is a traffic enforcement program going on. The Jaywalking fine is $1. There is a 30 miles per hour unmarked speed limit (where speed limit is not otherwise posted) and fairly few violations. Councillor Kelley stated that he was happy with the PowerPoint Presentation. The data will be used. Collision data would be beneficial, especially in places like Porter Square where developers may find accident information useful in their building plans. Lieutenant Albert highlighted the top accidents from 1990-2007. Ms. Farrington commented that she called in a traffic complaint. Was this the reason for police presence? Lieutenant Albert responded in the affirmative. Councillor Kelley thanked all attendees for their participation. The meeting adjourned at seven o'clock and twenty-one minutes minutes p. m.
For the Committee,
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