> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # $24 million to flow out of City Hall tonight - URL: https://www.smdp.com/24-million-to-flow-out-of-city-hall-tonight/ - Published: 2003-09-09T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T02:51:54.000Z - Author: Carolyn Sackariason - Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica, #archive-import *‘Zero consumption urinals,’ new buses and traffic light system included in pricetag* (Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series that tracks the city’s expenditures which appear on the upcoming Santa Monica City Council consent agenda. Consent agenda items are routinely passed by the city council with little or no discussion from elected officials or the public. However, many of the items have been part of public discussion in the past). By Carolyn Sackariason Daily Press Staff Writer More than $24 million in local government spending tonight will pay for new BMW motorcycles for the cops, new natural gas buses and a host of other amenities designed to improve life for Santa Monicans. The biggest expenditure the Santa Monica City Council is expected to approve is $22 million for 52 natural gas buses, at $400,000 a piece. Last year, 22 buses were scheduled to be replaced and 30 more will have exceeded their useful life this year, according to city staff. The Federal Transit Administration set the useful life of buses at 12 years. City staff said buses that are older than 12 years are more costly to maintain, especially in Santa Monica because salt from the ocean air causes corrosion faster. The bid also includes an option to buy 20 more buses next year. The Santa Monica Police Department has eight BMW motorcycles that were bought in 2000 and have reached their 60,000-mile buy-back limit. They will be returned to A & S BMW Motorcycles and replaced with eight 2004 models for $159,329\. City Hall could be refunded as much as $9,258 per motorcycle, depending on their condition when they are returned. Similarly, the new models will qualify for a guaranteed buy-back of up to $9,433 after three years, or 60,000 miles, whichever comes first. Dial-a-Ride service = $1.7M The City Council is being asked to approve $1.7 million to pay for a three-year contract with Transportation Concepts to provide the service. The transit service picks up residents at their door and takes them where ever they want to go in Santa Monica. On designated days, trips are offered to medical facilities outside of Santa Monica. Evening service and monthly shopping excursions also are offered. City Hall currently contracts with the company, but the agreement ends on Sept. 30. Traffic light system = $286K Another $286,000 may be spent on a new traffic signal system that will automatically synchronize 48 lights throughout Santa Monica. The system, which would be installed for the lights bounded by Wilshire Boulevard, Ocean Avenue, and Pico and Lincoln boulevards, is designed to manage traffic automatically instead of manually, as it’s done now. Traffic signals are currently coordinated by time, but the clock in each controller operates independently and has to be set manually at each location, city staff said. The city’s transportation engineer will be able to use information gathered by the system to monitor traffic and signals to optimize timing plans for a variety of patterns that occur on weekends and holidays without city employees having to do it. City Hall plans to eventually put all 150 traffic lights in Santa Monica on the system. The cost of the expansion will be about $1,100 per intersection, city staff said. The initial purchase comes with a one-year warranty that includes the set-up, training, hardware and software support. After the warranty expires, a yearly maintenance contract is estimated to cost $8,000 a year. The company expected to be hired, Econolite Control Products, set up the system in Salt Lake City before the Winter Olympics, as well as in all cities in Arizona. Big Blue Bus service analysis = $144K Along with the new buses, a service improvement program that will cost Santa Monica taxpayers $143,973 is expected to be approved tonight. The City Council is asked to execute a contract with Perteet Engineering, Inc. to prepare an analysis of the Big Blue Bus’ services. It includes passenger counts at every stop for every trip on every route, as well as the number of passengers who ride each segment of each route, a transfer count by route and whether the drivers are maintaining their schedules. Passengers will be surveyed with a questionnaire to determine the type of fare they paid, where they got on the bus and where they got off, as well as their feelings on how the service could be improved. The analysis is expected to be completed in April. The analysis is done every three years to obtain data which is required for a short range development plan and allows the Big Blue Bus to get federal and state funding. Water savings plan = $30K Finally, the City Council is expected to spend $30,000 on a contractor that will be hired to help medical facilities in Santa Monica reduce their water consumption. Known in City Hall as the “Medical Facility Water Efficiency Retrofit Program,” it provides the city’s top water consuming medical facilities with a turnkey program. The city has a goal to reduce its daily water use by 20 percent by 2010, which is a 2.6 million gallon a day reduction. There are two hospitals, 19 board and care facilities, and 60 medical office buildings in Santa Monica. Those institutions consume more than 20 percent of the city’s commercial water demand, city staff said. The goal is to get one hospital, 12 board and care facilities, and 10 medical office buildings on the program. City staff estimate that 512,472,000 gallons will be saved as a result of the program, which is 20.5 million gallons a year, or 56,160 gallons a day. The contractor will be responsible for giving the facilities a water audit, a list of recommendations, as well as installing water efficient products and training employees on how to use them. The products include flow control valves for faucets, “ultra-low flush toilets,” “zero-water consumption urinals” and water recycling systems. *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 9, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/090903.pdf?ref=smdp.com)