Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
Between BOARD OF ARLINGTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA (“COUNTY BOARD”) And WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY (“WMATA”) For TRANSIT SIGNAL PRIORITY (“TSP”) AND EMERGENCY VEHICLE PREEMPTION (“EVP”) Summary: In order to achieve common goals and objectives for the Columbia Pike Transit Signal Priority / Emergency Vehicle Preemption (“TSP”/”EVP”) Project (“Project”) as the project is defined in an Agreement between Arlington County and Wilbur Smith & Associates, (#147-01) dated February 25, 2002, this MOU defines the County Board and WMATA expectations and intended responsibilities for: 1. Installation and maintenance of TSP and EVP vehicle and field equipment; 2. Use of WMATA buses and Arlington County Fire Department (“ACFD”) vehicles for setting system parameters, testing, and corridor demonstration purposes; 3. Removal of TSP vehicle equipment, if desired by WMATA; 4. Operational issues; 5. Controller cabinet wiring modifications; and 6. Bus stop relocations. Background: The purpose of the Project is to design, test, and implement an emergency vehicle preemption / transit signal priority system (“System”) that is reliable, maintainable, expandable, and upgradeable to new technologies and requirements. Six Project goals were defined by the Arlington County (“County”) Department of Public Works (“DPW”) staff at the outset of the Project pursuant to an Agreement between the County Board and Virginia Department of Transportation (“VDOT”), dated August 2, 2000. A set of measurable of objectives was developed for Wilbur Smith & Associates by Arlington County to provide a basis for assessing the degree to which TSP/EVP goals have been satisfied. These are documented in Technical Memorandum #1, Needs and Requirements prepared by Wilbur Smith & Associates in cooperation with Street Smarts, dated May, 2002. Based on a review of the needs of the Federal Highway Administration (“FHWA”), VDOT, the County Board, and WMATA and Project objectives, a conceptual
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system design was developed and documented in Technical Memorandum #2, Concept Design Report and System Architecture, prepared by Wilbur Smith & Associates in cooperation with ARINC and Street Smarts dated July 3, 2002. The operation of the System is anticipated to work as follows: 1. An emitter located on a County emergency vehicle or WMATA transit vehicle will communicate with the traffic signal controller within a predetermined distance of the intersection. 2. A County emergency vehicle would be provided an “unconditional” green interval (i.e. preemption) in a safe and efficient manner as soon as all other necessary vehicular movements are provided a red interval, and pedestrian phases of the traffic signal controller, if any, are properly terminated or deferred. 3. A WMATA transit vehicle would be provided a “conditional” green interval (i.e. priority) only if certain conditions prevail (e.g. no emergency vehicle request has been made and side street saturation levels are within the established thresholds). Purposes of the MOU: The purposes of this MOU are to establish a basic framework for future collaboration, cooperation, and coordination among the County Board and WMATA in the implementation of a prototype test and corridor demonstration of the System along Columbia Pike, in Arlington County, Virginia. The County will serve as the lead agency for the design, implementation, operation and maintenance of the prototype testing and system demonstration. Through this MOU, the County Board and, WMATA express their intent to collaborate and coordinate to implement the Project. Procurement specifications will be prepared by the County’s contractor, Wilbur Smith Associates, pursuant to the Project Agreement for the purchase by the County and installation by County contractors of TSP/EVP equipment for testing and demonstration purposes for a total of 20 intersections (19 along Columbia Pike). 1. Installation and Maintenance of TSP and EVP vehicle and field equipment: prototype and demonstration. The County will select a contractor to supply and install TSP/EVP equipment at the twenty (20) intersections and supply and install fourteen (14) bus emitters. The County will require its contractor to name WMATA, the County Board, its elected and appointed officers, officials, employees and agents as additional insureds on its commercial general liability coverage insurance. WMATA will make two buses available for the testing phase and coordinate with the contractor to establish a time in which the contractor can perform emitter installation at the Four Mile Run garage facility.
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After successful completion of the testing phase as determined by the County, the second phase of the installation for the corridor demonstration will be initiated by the County. WMATA will make twelve (12) additional buses (10 active and 2 spares) available for emitter installation and coordinate with the contractor to establish a time when the contractor can install emitters on buses at the Four Mile Run garage facility. The ACFD will use its current procedures for installing and maintaining emitters and associated preemption equipment on the County’s emergency response vehicles. A County contractor will assume responsibility for maintenance of TSP vehicle equipment on WMATA vehicles. If identified or suspected, WMATA shall notify DPW of defective or malfunctioning vehicle equipment and arrangements will be made with DPW for servicing by a County contractor. WMATA will ensure that buses containing the defective or malfunctioning units are available for servicing at measurable times requested by the County or its contractor(s). Should new equipment be needed as determined by the County, the County may arrange to have replacement equipment provided and installed. A County contractor will be responsible for installation, maintenance, and removal of TSP/EVP field equipment. 2. Using WMATA buses and ACFD vehicles for setting system parameters, testing, and corridor demonstration purposes To satisfactorily test and evaluate TSP / EVP functions along the Columbia Pike Corridor, WMATA and County vehicles must be equipped with on-board priority/preemption equipment and be assigned to the Corridor. In total, fourteen (14) buses eventually will be equipped with TSP equipment. WMATA and the County will supply the transit and emergency vehicles to carry out the following activities: Testing A. One (1) bus equipped with TSP on-board equipment will be made available by WMATA and brought to the test location on Columbia Pike by a WMATA bus operator. The County’s contractor, Wilbur Smith Associates, will coordinate vendor testing and the setting of detection ranges at the two intersections. The parameter setting activity will be performed in off-peak hours or other time convenient for WMATA. B. One (1) additional (two in total) buses equipped with TSP on-board equipment will be dedicated by WMATA for the test. These two vehicles will be assigned by WMATA to the same blocks every day for three weeks. C. One (1) County emergency vehicle equipped with EVP on-board equipment will be made available and brought to the test location on Columbia Pike by an ACFD vehicle operator at times determined by the County. The County’s Contractor, Wilbur Smith and Associates, will coordinate TSP/EVP testing and the setting of
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detection ranges at the two prototype intersections. The parameter setting activity will be performed at a time convenient to ACFD. Demonstration A. One (1) bus equipped with TSP on-board equipment will be made available by WMATA and brought to Columbia Pike by a WMATA bus operator to assist in setting detection ranges, the parameters of which will be determined by Wilbur Smith Associates, for intersections included in the Corridor demonstration. The County’s Contractor, Wilbur Smith Associates, will coordinate the setting of detection ranges, the parameters of which will be determined by Wilbur Smith Associates, for the implementation of the nineteen (19) additional intersections. The parameter setting activity will be performed in off-peak hours or other time convenient for WMATA . B. Fourteen (14) buses equipped with TSP on-board equipment, twelve (12) of which will be dedicated by WMATA for active participation in the Corridor demonstration. The remaining two (2) buses will serve as spares to be used on an “as needed” basis. These vehicles will be assigned by WMATA to the same blocks every day for the duration of the demonstration. The time period for the demonstration will be agreed upon by the County and WMATA and will be based upon the time frame for WMATA’s transition to CNG buses and the length of time needed to sufficiently evaluate the performance of the system. C. One (1) ACFD emergency vehicle equipped with EVP on-board equipment will be made available by the County and brought to Columbia Pike by an ACFD vehicle operator to assist in setting detection ranges for implementation of the nineteen (19) additional intersections. The parameter setting activity will be performed at a time convenient to ACFD. 3. Removal of TSP vehicle equipment if desired by WMATA A County contractor will be responsible for emitter de-installation and will arrange to have emitters removed from buses if desired by WMATA at the conclusion of the demonstration or prior to the replacement of the current bus fleet from the Four Mile Run garage facility in 2005. A County contractor will repair any openings or damage to the exterior or interior of WMATA buses resulting from the installation and retrieval of the emitters from the WMATA buses. (Note: alternative emitter installation methods will be explored with the Contractor which might preclude the need for bolting emitters to the bus roofs). Should the County, in its sole discretion, decide to terminate this project, a County contractor will remove all the emitters and TSP/EVP equipment from the WMATA vehicles.
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4. Operational Issues The County DPW staff will monitor failure status of field equipment and will determine access privileges to TSP/EVP logged information. The County DPW staff will work with the Project TSP/EVP data service provider (to be determined in the future by the County) to establish internet accounts for the purpose of accessing System data by persons and entities authorized by the County. WMATA Metrobus operators will not be required to perform actions beyond normal operations to activate the emitters or initiate TSP requests, as the bus emitters will be activated through the ignition and remain active only while the vehicle is running and the door is closed. 5. Cabinet Wiring Modifications Prior to Prototype Testing and Corridor Demonstration, a County contractor will perform all necessary re-wiring within the controller cabinets. 6. Bus Stop Relocation Since TSP is not as operationally efficient at intersections where buses make near-side stops, WMATA will coordinate with the appropriate County DPW staff and other necessary stakeholders to determine the feasibility and time frame for relocating near-side bus stops to far-side bus stops on Columbia Pike. 7. No Waiver of Immunity No provision of this MOU shall constitute or be construed as a waiver of the sovereign immunity, or the governmental immunity, of the County Board, WMATA, and/or their elected and appointed officials, officers and employees. 8. No Rights In Third Parties No provision of this MOU shall create in the public, or in any person or entity other that the entities exclusively for this MOU, rights as a third party beneficiary. No provision shall authorize any person or entity, not a party hereto, to maintain any action for personal injury, property damage, or breach of contract. 9. No Indemnification or Hold Harmless No provision of this MOU shall constitute or be construed as explicitly or implicitly obligating the County Board or WMATA to indemnify or hold harmless any party or third party from any liability whatsoever.
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10. Non-Appropriation All of the County Board’s obligations pursuant to this MOU are subject to appropriation of funds by the County Board for the specific purpose of satisfying such obligations. 11. Termination The County and WMATA each may terminate this MOU at any time without obligation or liability to the other party upon sixty (60) days prior written notice to the persons executing this MOU. 12. Effective Date This MOU shall be effective on the date when it is last signed by both parties. [signatures continued on next page]
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Signatures: The County Board of Arlington County, Virginia By: _____________________ Title: ____________________ Dated:____________________ Approved as to Form and Legal Sufficiency: ____________________________ County Attorney
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Approved: ______________________ Jack Requa BUS – Chief Operating Officer
By: ______________________ [Name] [Title] Contracting Officer Dated: _____________________ Approved as to Form and Legal Sufficiency: ____________________________ Office of General Counsel
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