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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAudit Reports - Public - 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit - 9/10/2024 This report is intended for the internal use of the City of Glendale, and may not be provided to, used, or relied upon by any third parties. FINAL REPORT City of Glendale 2024 TRAFFIC SIGNAL SHOP P ERFORMANCE AUDIT September 10, 2024 Moss Adams LLP 999 Third Avenue, Suite 2800 Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 302-6500 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 Statement of Compliance with GAGAS 1 Conclusions 1 Commendation 3 Detailed Report 4 A. Introduction 4 B. Background 4 C. Objectives 4 D. Scope and Methodology 5 Findings and Recommendations 6 A. Staffing 6 B. Work Processes 13 Appendix A: Definitions of Assessment Finding Rankings 19 Appendix B: Traffic Signal Shop Peer City Benchmarking Matrix 20 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 1 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The City of Glendale (City) engaged Moss Adams to conduct a performance audit of its Traffic Signal Shop (TSS) within its Transportation Department (the Department) to assess the efficiency, effectiveness, and resources available to support this function. Traffic signals help enable and control traffic through the City to move in a safe, ordering, and efficient manner. As the City has grown in population, these services are critical to promoting community safety and mobility. Our objectives for this performance audit were to evaluate: • Whether TSS staffing levels and its organizational structure are adequate in comparison to peer and industry averages. • The effectiveness of TSS employee recruitment, training, and retention strategies. • The extent to which the TSS is keeping up with preventive maintenance schedules and prioritizing work in accordance with industry standards and community safety. To complete this performance audit, Moss Adams analyzed staffing, job descriptions, and work log data from March 2014 to date. We interviewed representatives from the Department to understand current practices and challenges. To complete our analysis, we conducted peer benchmarking with four traffic signal shops in the region and researched industry best practices to inform our recommendations. We conducted this performance audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards (GAGAS). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. The following findings compare the TSS staffing levels and organizational structure, people management, and preventive maintenance and workload management practices with peer and industry best practices. Recommendations are intended to help the Department improve operational efficiency and staff retention. 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 2 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS STAFFING MEDIUM-RATED FINDINGS 1. Finding As of August 2024, the City’s TSS Technician to intersection ratio is 42:1 if all budgeted positions were consistently filled; this generally aligns with peers but is higher than industry guidance of 30 to 40 intersections per technician. Due to persistent vacancies, workloads are elevated and on-call schedules are taxing on existing employees which contributes to an elevated risk of burnout. Recommendations A. Consider adding one technician to TSS to better align with industry standards and provide additional support when positions are vacant. B. Continue to evaluate TSM staffing levels to align with peer and industry standards, particularly as more intersections are brought online and the City continues to host mega events that impact transportation. C. Formalize a policy on fatigue options that are available to TSS Technicians that respond to a call after hours to promote appropriate rest before their next shift. 2. Finding The TSS is subject to industry-wide challenges in recruiting, and the TSM Division compensation and classification structure is not conducive for developing traffic signal capacity through cross-training with ITS Technicians. Recommendations A. Consider merging the ITS and TSM job classifications into a tiered ITS role to support cross training, efficient operations, and additional staff support across TSM. B. TSS should continue to evaluate technician classification and compensation structures working with HR to incentivize recruitment, retention, and ongoing employee development across the TSM Division. WORK PROCESSES 3. Finding TSS lacks preventive maintenance policies and procedures and relies on paper-based processes to assign work, track work orders, and complete preventive maintenance. Due to high workloads, data has not been updated for over six months which creates the inability to evaluate performance in responding to outages, completing inspections and maintenance, or comprehensively track traffic signal assets. Recommendations A. Develop preventive maintenance policies and procedures, including defining when outages must be responded to after hours to help manage overtime and additional workloads. B. Continue to implement Lucity as an asset management system and automate the assignment, monitoring, and regular reporting of work orders, preventive maintenance completion, and responses to emergency incidents. 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 3 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS LOW-RATED FINDING 4. Finding TSS does not have enough work laptops and power tools for all employees, which impedes efficient and effective operations. Recommendation A. Provide each technician with their own laptop, work tablet, or work phone and a set of power tools. B. Continuously evaluate tools to help streamline work procedures such as tools to allow for video calls, instant messaging, and project management may be beneficial for long-term success. Although the focus of this performance audit was to identify opportunities for improvement, it is important to note the areas of commendable operations. The Department should be commended for the following accomplishments: • Adaptability: TSS has experienced heightened turnover during recent years. Team members collaborated well to balance workloads and responsibilities in order to continue City operations and ensure safety in public traffic. • Long-Term Employees: The Department has a handful of team members who have worked for the TSS over 15years, indicating a sense of dedication and committed team members who share the Department’s values and mission. • Commitment to Improvement: TSS staff and leadership were engaged in our conversations and demonstrated a willingness to critically evaluate current practices. We would like to thank Department staff and leadership for their willingness to assist with this project. 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 4 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY DETAILED REPORT Moss Adams was contracted by the City to conduct a performance audit of the TSS to evaluate the efficiency, effectiveness, and resources to support this function. We assessed the status of the TSS, performed a peer cities review and compared to the City of Glendale TSS, and provided recommendations. This performance audit was performed as part of the FY 2023 Annual Audit Plan developed by the City’s Independent Internal Audit Program (IIAP). Our performance audit was performed between April 2024 and July 2024. Please refer to Appendix A for definitions of finding rankings. The TSS is part of the City’s Transportation Department under the Transportation System Management (TSM) Division. The Transportation System Management (TSM) Division is comprised of multiple teams – Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Technicians, Traffic Signal Technicians, and Utility Locators. The teams are responsible for upholding different functions at the City, and largely work independently from each other, as described below: • ITS Technicians monitor the traffic signal systems, develop new signal and phasing times and maintain the transportation network fiber backbone for the system Infrastructure. • Traffic Signal Technicians are responsible for traffic signal installations, program enhanced detection systems, program controllers and monitors, emergency vehicle preemption system, system adjustments ,preventive maintenance on traffic signals and resolving incidents with traffic signals. • Utility Locators focus on locating traffic Signals, street lighting and identifying and denoting underground utilities to facilitate construction or other projects. The TSS’s goal is to maintain public safety by helping to control traffic through the city in a safe, orderly, and efficient manner. Over the past several years, the City has experienced population growth as well as development growth in West Glendale but staffing levels for TSS have reportedly remained stagnant. This impacts the team’s ability to maintain signals and respond to outages and contributes to staff burnout. As of August 2024, TSS maintains 209 traffic signals throughout the City. Our objectives for this performance audit were to evaluate: • Whether TSS staffing levels and organizational structure are adequate in comparison to peer and industry averages. • The effectiveness of TSS employee recruitment, training, and retention strategies. • The extent to which the TSS is keeping up with preventive maintenance schedules and prioritizing work in accordance with industry standards and community safety. 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 5 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY In order to obtain an understanding of the TSS’s current practices and performance, we conducted the following procedures: • Interviews: We conducted interviews with TSS staff and leadership, and City Human Resources. • Document Review: We reviewed multiple documents, including but not limited to: ○ Organizational charts ○ Evaluation forms ○ Work activity logs ○ Job descriptions ○ Personnel data report ○ After-hours standby protocols ○ Overtime utilization for the last three fiscal years (2021-2024) ○ Signal lists • Benchmark Analysis: To evaluate the Department’s comparative resourcing and performance, we met with four traffic signal departments in the region (Chandler, Mesa, Scottsdale, and Tempe) to gather information on a range of topics, including: ○ TSS staffing ○ Signals-to-technician ratio ○ Systems used to track work and assets ○ Use of third-party contractors ○ Workload management practices Results from our benchmarking activity are summarized in Appendix B of this report. • Industry Best Practice Research: We conducted industry best practice research from entities such as the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the Association for Talent Development (ATD), the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) to help inform our recommendations. We worked with TSS personnel and leadership to obtain the most currently available information and insights. We conducted this performance audit between April and August 2024. 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 6 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Finding As of August 2024, the City’s TSS Technician to intersection ratio is 42:1 if all budgeted positions were consistently filled; this generally aligns with peers but is higher than industry guidance of 30 to 40 intersections per technician. Due to persistent vacancies, workloads are elevated and on-call schedules are taxing on existing employees which contributes to an elevated risk of burnout. Recommendations A. Consider adding one technician to TSS to better align with industry standards and provide additional support when positions are vacant. B. Continue to evaluate TSM staffing levels to align with peer and industry standards, particularly as more intersections are brought online. C. Formalize a policy on fatigue options that are available to TSS Technicians that respond to a call after hours to promote appropriate rest before their next shift. Criteria According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), a traffic signal shop should aim to achieve a signal-to-technician ratio of 30 to 40 intersections per technician.1 While the ideal ratio can be different for a single organization, it is important to identify the ratio required to ensure adequate staffing to ensure maintenance and call response capacity and overall public traffic safety. If an outage occurs after work hours, a technician must respond quickly to promote community safety and mobility. This need to consider safety of travelers in the City should also be balanced against the ability for an on-call technician to respond and the potential impact of responding to a call in the middle of the night. Technicians should have adequate rest and relief when performing their work. Peer Analysis Peers operate their traffic signal shop function at a ratio between 48 and 53 intersections per technician. Peers report using a weekly interval for on-call scheduling for traffic signal technicians. However, because of their relatively larger team size, on-call scheduling is more manageable for their teams, since any one staff member will only be required to serve on-call once every six to eight weeks. 1 “Traffic Control Systems Handbook”: https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop09006/chap_2.htm#:~:text=Adequate%20maintenance%20staffing%20(or%20co ntract,to%2040%20intersections%20per%20technician 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 7 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY Condition The City’s TSS is comprised by three Senior Signal Technicians and one Signal Technician. The City budgeted five FTEs: three Senior Signal Technicians, one Signal Technician, and one Electronics Technician. The City is divided into three maintenance zones, and each zone is assigned to a Senior Technician. During our audit fieldwork in Summer 2024, the Signal Technician and Electronics Technician positions were vacant. With 208 traffic signal and signal boxes across the City, the TSS was operating at a ratio of nearly 70 traffic signals per Senior Technician. As of August 2024, the Department reported the Electronics Technician and Signal Technician position was recently filled. Since five budgeted positions were recently filled, the ratio of signals to technicians fell to 42:1, which aligns with regional peers but remains above DOT guidance of 30 to 40 intersections per technician. However, the City hosts a number of mega events, such as the Superbowl and popular concerts, which impact staffing needs to adjust traffic patterns. This is an extenuating factor that is specific to Glendale and impacts overall TSM staffing needs. The TSS assigns a one-week-long on-call schedule to a Signal Technician or Senior Signal Technician. On-call duties begin for the assigned team member once the standard work shift is completed and extends until the start of the next work shift. If a service call is received during afterhours, the on-call team member must respond and be on-site within one hour of receiving the call, according to Department policy. When there are vacancies on the team, fewer employees must share the burden of the on-call schedule which reportedly can negatively affect their quality of life. For example, staff may not be able to achieve an adequate amount of quality rest if they are frequently answering night calls and calls that occur near the start of their next work shift. TSS management acknowledged these challenges, noting a general effort to be lenient with the technician on call and granting the options to start their work shift later or end it earlier when necessary. Between calendar years 2021 and 2024, the TSS used between 298 and 1,006 hours of overtime due to after hours calls. Through August 2024, TSS has employed 477 hours of overtime as well. Projected at a linear rate, TSS could expect to expend up to 715 overtime hours for the year. These overtime hours amount to approximately one-third to half of a full-time employee (assuming 2,080 annual working hours). Significant workloads that require employees to consistently work overtime are unsustainable and will contribute to staff burnout in the long term. Because overtime hours are compensated for at a higher rate, the TSS is potentially paying near or in excess of a standard industry salary while simultaneously hindering their ability to optimally manage workloads across their technicians. TSS Overtime Hours Per Calendar Year 2021 2022 2023 2024(P)* Total Overtime Hours 298.5 1005.75 838 714.75 % of FTE Hours 14% 48% 40% 34% OT Hours Paid as a % of 1 Budgeted FTE (X1.50) 21% 72% 60% 51% 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 8 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY *Straight-line projection through year end, based on an 8/12 month to year proration. Cause Budgetary constraints and challenges in recruitment and retention strategies contribute to understaffing within the TSS. Across the industry, there is a shortage of traffic signal technicians which creates high levels of competition for vacant positions. Additionally, obstacles in streamlining and optimization of workloads (see Finding No. 2) discourage technicians across TSM employees from picking up additional Signal Technician responsibilities. As a result of persistent vacancies, a TSS Signal Team member would have at most two weeks without on-call duty. The interval between on-call duty for any Senior Technician would be further reduced if one of them needed to take leave or vacation time. The limited time in between on-call shifts accumulates as a work stressor over time. Effect Understaffing requires current employees to take on higher workloads to ensure that core duties are completed. High volumes of work can also incentivize staff to deviate from standard operating procedures and could compromise the quality of their work to fit additional tasks into their workday. When workloads are elevated, routine preventive maintenance can be deprioritized to address outages or other issues that impact public safety immediately. However, when this practice is prolonged, insufficient attention to preventive maintenance also impacts community mobility and safety. This practice can present liability to the City in the event that an incident happens, and it is discovered the lack of routine maintenance was a contributing factor. Finally, the pressure caused by excessive work expectations can contribute to staff burnout. Over time, elevated levels of workload are unsustainable, can lead to turnover and pose risks to business continuity and compromised public safety. On-call TSS staff may receive inadequate sleep or rest if they are called out for service late at night or a short time before they have to report back into work. Over time, this practice can result in decreased work quality, and requiring employees to operate vehicles on limited sleep can pose hazards to public safety and lead to liabilities for the City. Recommendations Department leadership should continue to evaluate TSS staffing levels to align with peer and industry standards, particularly as more intersections are brought online. Currently, the Department could add one additional technician (increase the number to six) to better align with DOT guidance of 30 to 40 intersections per technician. If one additional technician was added to TSS, the ratio of intersections to technicians would be approximately 35:1. This additional technician could also help support times where employees are out of office, on extended leaves, or positions are vacant. In addition to this TSS technician role, the Department should continually evaluate TSM staffing needs in relation to large events that occur in the community. Large events create significant additional work for teams within the TSM Division, which can hinder their ability to complete day-to-day work, increase overtime, and potentially result in employee burnout. In response to voiced concerns, TSS leadership recognizes the demanding nature of on-call work by being more lenient with the on-call technician’s working hours. This practice can promote workload balance and staff longevity. However, the Department should develop and document this practice in a policy moving forward and ensure that it is communicated to all employees. While granting the 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 9 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY options to start their work shift later or end it earlier when necessary is a positive practice, it should be stated in a departmental policy to ensure that all staff are aware of these options, and that it is applied equitably and fairly across the Department. MANAGEMENT R ESPONSE MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT Concur OWNER Diego Padilla, Traffic Signals Supervisor TARGET COMPLETION DATE December 31, 2024; June 30, 2025 ACTION PLAN Management will develop a policy to address staffing levels, workload distribution, and scheduling options. Transportation has put forth a request to fund a new signal Tech position in the FY 26 budget. 2. Finding The TSS is subject to industry-wide challenges in recruiting, and the TSM Division’s compensation and classification structure is not conducive for developing traffic signal capacity through cross-training with ITS Technicians. Recommendations A. Consider merging the ITS and TSM job classifications into a tiered ITS role to support cross training, efficient operations, and additional staff support across TSM. B. Continue to evaluate technician classification and compensation structures to incentivize recruitment, retention, and ongoing employee development across the TSM Division. Criteria Effective recruitment identifies high-quality candidates who are able to learn and be able to complete their job responsibilities soon upon being onboarded. Those that closely match expectations and qualifications of job positing tend to be higher quality candidates. Employees should be provided with adequate training as they progress in their career to develop competencies in related areas and create redundant work capacity. 2 The U.S. Office of Personnel Management highlights value in training staff as a motivating factor for applicants.3 To promote cross- training, management should ensure that positions are compensated in an equitable manner. Jobs 2 “4 Benefits of Cross-Departmental Training”: https://www.asaecenter.org/association-careerhq/career/articles/talent- management/4-benefits-of-cross-departmental-training 3 “Recruitment and Retention Strategies”: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/talent-surge- playbook/recruitment-and-retention-strategies/ 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 10 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY that require more skills and expertise or that encompass more work duties and exposure to hazards should receive higher compensation. Providing a well-defined and challenging career progression framework can also help support employee retention. According to the Society for Human Resources Management, a career progression framework can help employees enhance their skills and knowledge to master their roles and promote into new and different positions. This positively impacts the organization by improving morale, career satisfaction, motivation, productivity, and employee retention.4 Peer Analysis Peer traffic signal shops also struggle with technician recruitment and retention, alluding to challenges in competing with compensation offered in the private sector. Peers reported placing a heavy emphasis on the total benefits package offered by their city to be more attractive to applicants. Some peers highlighted recruitment efforts in the local community through targeted televised advertising as well as partnering with high schools and newer, developing Signal Technician programs at community colleges. All peers reported that difficulties in recruitment and small candidate pools appear to be the new standard, and shifted their focus to providing the best training they could in order to develop their team members to the highest degree possible. In alignment with this goal, they used tiered staff levels to encourage their employees to continuously learn. All peer cities currently have separate ITS technician and TSS technician roles. At the City of Mesa, all employee job titles include “ITS” but teams are functionally split into analysis, network and communications, and operations. Condition As noted previously, the TSM Division is comprised of multiple teams – ITS Technicians, Signal Technicians, and Utility Locators. The teams are responsible for upholding different functions at the City, and largely work independently from each other. The workload in each group differs throughout the year alongside fluctuations in vacancies. While it could be helpful to leverage members of the three groups to offset staff turnover, the TSM Division has struggled to cross-train the team members to develop redundant capacity. There is a perception that some ITS Team members are not willing to cross-train “backwards” to Signal Technician roles and responsibilities, and that Utility Locators are not interested in receiving cross-training to take on Signal Technician duties due to the disproportionate amount of additional work to the potential increase in compensation. Although the City offers a job shadowing program, employees have not participated likely due to these factors, which are institutionalized in the City’s classification and compensation structure for TSM positions. Within this environment, the TSS regularly experiences turnover, and the limited number of cross-trained employees make it difficult for leadership to balance Signal Technician workloads, contributing to elevated risks of burnout for TSS Signal Technicians. 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 11 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY Cause Municipalities generally cannot offer cash compensation that competes with those offered by private employers. Because base compensation is a visible and standard aspect of compensation, paired with the already limited candidate pool, TSS often faces challenges in filling vacant positions. The Department does not have a compensation and classification structure that is conducive for developing Signal Technician capacity. While TSS provides compensation adjustments for the Signal Technician Group and has recently completed a market analysis, competition for workers remains high. Additionally, compensation differences between TSS technicians and the ITS technician role does not incentivize cross-training or redundancy across teams. Effect The TSS cannot reliably retain a Signal Technician and an Electronics Technician. In the last three years, both positions have regularly remained vacant for six months out of each year. Entry-level Signal Technicians may be discouraged by the limited higher-level positions available and feel stagnated at their level, particularly given historical tenure among the three Senior Technicians. Similarly, the Electronics Technician may feel stagnated once they acclimate to their role and have gained all the necessary knowledge to complete their duties. The delineation of staff among Signal Technician and ITS technician categories makes it difficult for Department leadership to balance workloads across technicians in these teams. This results in a limited ability to cross-train across the TSM Division and increased reliance on incumbents within each individual team to complete work. Because both of these job classifications often have to go to an intersection to resolve issues and perform maintenance, the distinction between these roles may also impact efficiency of TSM operations. Recommendation The City should continue to evaluate current TSS and ITS technician classification and compensation practices to align them with industry practices. Although uncommon among regional peers, the City could consider merging the TSS and ITS technician classifications into a single ITS technician classification with between 3 to 4 tiers based on level, expertise, and experience. This would help promote career progression opportunities for traffic technicians in the City and integrate the expectation of cross-training to help maintain traffic signals and efficient traffic flow throughout city limits. Additionally, TSS should explore opportunities to implement recommendations to increase retention for the often-vacant Electronic Technician and Signal Technician positions. Without all positions filled, workloads are elevated which creates risk to community safety, asset management, and employee morale. Department leadership should continue to identify opportunities to increase cross-training between the TSS technician and the ITS technician roles. Building redundant Signal Technician capacity across the ITS group can help TSS management buffer Signal Technician workloads during periods of understaffing. It can also help develop well-rounded transportation employees that are efficient and effective. As needed, compensation structure revisions should be made to incentivize employees to perform more in-demand work, and can include the following: 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 12 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY • Market Analysis: Results from the recent and all future market analyses can help inform job classifications and pay grades. In this analysis, it is important to take into account factors that may be specific to the City. • Performance-Based Pay: Performance-based pay is used to incentivize employees to perform more in-demand work. This can include bonuses, differential pay, or other incentives that are tied to performance metrics such as productivity or customer satisfaction. • Equity and Fairness: Compensation policies are designed to be equitable and fair, with equal pay for equal work. To ensure these qualities are upheld, it is important for TSS to regularly review compensation policies over time and recognize when staff can and are performing extra work, or work that contributes to the organization’s agility. Ultimately, compensation practices should be tailored to achieve a fair, transparent, and performance-based compensation structure that encourages employee learning and willingness to fill organizational gaps. Such practices can benefit TSM in attracting and retaining talented, driven employees while also ensuring that compensation is aligned with market rates and an employee’s complete skills, knowledge, and expertise portfolio. MANAGEMENT R ESPONSE MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT Concur OWNER Transportation leadership and their Human Resources Dept partners TARGET COMPLETION DATE 06/30/2025 ACTION PLAN TSM and Human Resources will work together to: • Revisit internal compensation structure of all the groups. • Develop a tier program. 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 13 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY 3. Finding TSS lacks preventive maintenance policies and procedures and relies on paper-based processes to assign work, track work orders, and complete preventive maintenance. Due to high workloads, data has not been updated for over six months which creates the inability to evaluate performance in responding to outages, completing inspections and maintenance, and comprehensively tracking traffic signal assets. Recommendations A. Develop preventive maintenance policies and procedures, including defining when outages must be responded to after hours to help manage overtime and employee workloads. B. Continue to implement Lucity as an asset management system and automate the assignment, monitoring, and regular reporting of work orders, preventive maintenance completion, and responses to emergency incidents. Criteria The TSS should monitor and perform preventive maintenance on a routine schedule to uphold public traffic safety and prevent system, equipment, and large-scale infrastructure problems that could lead to major operational disruptions and compromised public safety. The Connecticut Transportation Institute recommends that routine inspections be performed at least once every other year. 5 Similarly, many industry constituents suggest that preventive maintenance should be performed at least once per year. Preventive maintenance expectations should be established in policies and procedures to ensure that traffic signals remain operational, reliable, and efficient. Preventive maintenance should be comprehensively tracked in a system to enable automated processes, enhanced work prioritization, and reporting on how existing resources are able to keep up with demands. Performance reporting for factors such as downtime, response time, and outages is beneficial for leadership to evaluate current operations and opportunities for improvement. Peer Analysis Every peer city used an asset management system, work order system, or both to manage department work. All peers used their system to automate the documentation of technician service calls and to enable team members to assign work more easily and consistently through the chronological order they appear in the system based on preventive maintenance schedules. This greatly increases technician visibility over the status of their city and their work, as they can review the documented work and preventive maintenance schedules within their systems. Condition TSS does not have an asset management system or work order system and uses a paper-based process to document their service call work, preventive maintenance activities, and respond to 5 “Preventive Maintenance of Traffic Signals”: www.cti.uconn.edu/Document.asp?DocID=8760 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 14 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY outages. TSS also lacks policies and procedures related to preventive maintenance expectations, such as inspections, cleaning and maintenance, testing and calibration, documentation of response, and safety. Every morning, the Signal Shop Supervisor meets with the TSS Technicians to assign work and share updates on relevant projects. However, in the absence of comprehensive information through a system, TSS staff reported challenges in understanding the state of their work, particularly regarding preventive maintenance. In part due to an inadequate system to track, monitor, and systematically assign preventive maintenance, TSS staff reported that receiving work assignments does not alleviate confusion about the larger traffic signal landscape and how the TSM Division is functioning. After being assigned work, technicians who report to a signal assignment fill out a paper form with the intersection, date, and services rendered. The Signal Shop Supervisor aggregates these papers to review them and input them into the Excel sheet maintained for tracking. Due to the emergent nature of TSS work and staffing shortages, the Supervisor has not been able to consistently input the papers received into the excel-based maintenance log. As of June 2024, the preventive maintenance log had last been updated December 14, 2023. We were unable to analyze department staff performance due to a lack of reliable data and tracking processes. Based on current practices, it would not be feasible to sample service calls, request the appropriate supporting documentation, and evaluate service order call times, preventive maintenance schedule completion, and other important performance metrics. The City is currently in the process of implementing Lucity, an asset management system, and transition from manual documentation to electronic tracking. Cause Due to staff shortages at the technician level, TSS management has not been able to dedicate time to developing policies and procedures or entering information into the excel-based maintenance log. Instead, management has had to operate as a working supervisor to help support the completion of priority work. The City does not have a comprehensive asset management system and relies on paper-based processes for documenting and monitoring services rendered. A dedicated system that can automate data entry is foundational to improving TSS’s workload management and reducing the degree of manual labor within business processes. Effect The additional manual work created from the paper-based process leads to elevated data risks due to input error, is time consuming for TSS staff and the Signal Shop Supervisor, and contributes to the backlog of work. Due to this backlog and limited staffing and resources, the Signal Shop Supervisor is unable to timely reconcile preventive maintenance work completed. The backlog can also amplify the amount of overtime work TSS staff to do to stay afloat on preventive maintenance tasks. As a result, there is limited visibility over signals that have or have not recently received service, and the group is unable to reliably identify preventive maintenance necessary to be done. This can reportedly result in technicians servicing a recently visited traffic signal while other signals may not have been serviced at all. 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 15 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY The lack of reliable data tracking also prevents the use of performance indicators to help inform operations, resource needs, and work prioritization. This information would help Department leadership better understand resource needs to promote safe travel in the City. In the absence of policies and procedures, expectations can be unclear and documentation of maintenance and incident response may not be consistent. Recommendation TSM should develop preventive maintenance policies and procedures to help reduce downtime, prevent malfunctions, and extend the life of traffic signal equipment. These policies and procedures should be based on standards set forth by the International Municipal Signal Association (IMSA) and include the following components: • Inspection frequency, checklists, and documentation requirements • Cleaning and maintenance for signal heads, controllers, cabinets, and related wiring and connections • Testing of signal operations, timing , sequencing, and detection systems • Replacement and repairs, including maintained inventory levels for spare parts • Employee training and safety protocols • Response to outages, including defining the expected response time for peak and non-peak hours • Documentation expectations The Department should continue to implement Lucity, an asset management system, and transition to automated assignment, monitoring, and tracking of key operations such as work orders, emergency incidents, and preventive maintenance. As the Department acclimates to the change, leadership should consider the following to facilitate the transition: • Employee Training: To properly enable employees to use Lucity, TSS management should ensure employees receive adequate training on the system. This training should emphasize main functions necessary in day-to-day work, such as creating and adding to service calls, how to upload or attach documentation, and important and required data fields. • Performance Indicators: Department leadership should determine and define performance indicators to monitor staff performance and ensure that Lucity is able to capture and retain the information necessary to inform them. For example, the system may need specific configuration to capture and display work order timestamps, or to calculate daily, weekly, and monthly averages for service call responses and preventive maintenance procedures. • Dashboards and Report Templates: TSM leadership should work with the CentralSquare representative to ensure that Lucity is set up with the appropriate dashboards and reporting templates. Dashboards can be helpful for management to review overall Department performance in a quick, digestible manner. Additionally, report templates should be developed and implemented to ensure that data inputs and performance indicators are accurately and comprehensively captured, and to streamline reporting processes in the future. As the City evaluates its consistent use of overtime hours and explores opportunities to increase staffing, it will be important to have adequate systems, tools, and training resources (such as checklists and detailed policies) to best guide new team members and equip them for success in their roles. 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 16 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY MANAGEMENT R ESPONSE MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT Concur OWNER Reuben Lopez, Transportation Systems Manager and Diego Padilla, Traffic Signals Supervisor TARGET COMPLETION DATE Management is planning to complete the maintenance policy by December 31, 2024; Lucity implementation target date is March 31, 2025. ACTION PLAN Management is implementing the asset management system (Lucity) and developing a preventive maintenance policy. 4. Finding TSS does not have enough work laptops and power tools for all employees, which impedes efficient and effective operations. Recommendations A. Provide each technician with their own laptop, work tablet, or work phone and a set of power tools. B. Continuously evaluate tools to help streamline work procedures such as tools to allow for video calls, instant messaging, and project management may be beneficial for long-term success. Criteria All employees should be adequately equipped to complete their responsibilities efficiently. The Society for Human Resource Management discusses the importance of providing employees with access to the right technology and tools to do their jobs effectively and provides insights and best practices for doing so. The appropriate tools and use of technology can improve productivity, reduce costs, and enhance the employee experience.6 Peer Analysis Peers reported that all traffic signal shop employees had access to work laptops or other devices that allowed them to log their service calls into their centralized maintenance system, which streamlines the documentation process and eliminates the need for manual inputting. Peers also reported signal employees were able to work independently, without the need to share tools or other equipment. Condition As of June 2024, TSS staff reported the Department has one laptop and does not have sufficient tools for each staff member to have a full set. The technician scheduled on call for the week is given 6 “Mastering the Art of Tech and Touch in Today’s Workplace”: https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/technology/tech-touch- todays-workplace 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 17 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY the laptop, and team members would occasionally need to meet up across the city to share power tools and the laptop. Department leadership is currently working on implementing the Lucity asset management software. The transition to the new system will include the provision of a work laptop or work tablet for each technician. Management also reported that they are sourcing power tools to enable each technician to have the adequate tools necessary for their work. Cause Funding constraints and tight budgets may lead the Department to limit the amount of equipment and tools available to staff. However, it is important to weigh the benefits and potential downsides of cost savings, particularly when they impact work productivity. Effect Because there is only one laptop and limited tools available to TSS Technicians, employees will sometimes need to drive across the city to share the available resources. This practice creates inefficiencies and impedes operations. Additionally, technicians who are working without the laptop must document their work for each service call on paper. This leads to additional manual work that is prone to error and getting backlogged, and inadequate service call datalogging. Altogether, insufficient resources in the Department prohibits team members from operating efficiently and limits leadership’s ability to monitor performance. Recommendation To allow for improved workload management, the Department should provide each worker with their own laptop, work tablet, or work phone and a set of power tools. Department leadership should continuously evaluate additional tools that help streamline work procedures even more. Collaboration tools such as those that can host video calls and allow for instant messaging can be helpful for inter- and intradepartmental communication. These tools can reduce response times when TSS staff may have questions that prevent them from performing their job duties and remove the need to travel to meet face-to-face to troubleshoot an issue. By fully equipping team members with hardware and software, the TSS can enable staff to work at their highest and best use and avoid ineffective processes that involve excessive travel time and encounter communication barriers. Paired with the implementation of an asset management system, these investments can further promote efficient and effective team performance. They can also allow the TSS to better serve the community and ensure highest quality of safety and service call responsiveness. MANAGEMENT R ESPONSE MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT Concur OWNER Reuben Lopez, Transportation Systems Manager and Tony Abbo, City Traffic Engineer. 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 18 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY MANAGEMENT R ESPONSE TARGET COMPLETION DATE Tools by December 31, 2024. Laptops by July 31, 2025. ACTION PLAN Management to provide all necessary tools and laptops by dates above. 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 19 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY APPENDIX A: DEFINITIONS OF ASSESSMENT FINDING RANKINGS We utilized the City’s IIAP risk rankings, presented below, and assigned rankings based on our professional judgment. A qualitative assessment of high, medium, or low helps to prioritize implementation of corrective action, as shown in the following table. High Findings with a high likelihood of causing significant negative impact (i.e., pose a threat to achieving organizational objectives) if not promptly addressed. Recommendations from high-risk findings should be implemented (preferably within three months) Medium Findings with a moderate likelihood of causing negative impact if left unaddressed; these should be prioritized for corrective action to improve performance. Recommendations arising from medium risk findings should be implemented in a timely manner (preferably within six months), to address moderate risks and strengthen or enhance efficiency. Low Findings with a high likelihood of causing significant negative impact (i.e., pose a threat to achieving organizational objectives) if not promptly addressed. Recommendations arising from low-risk findings should be implemented within 12 months. 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 20 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY APPENDIX B: TRAFFIC SIGNAL SHOP PEER CITY BENCHMARKING MATRIX The City of Glendale engaged Moss Adams LLP to conduct a performance audit of its TSS to evaluate the efficiency, effectiveness, and resources to support this function. As part of this work, we reached out to four peer cities to learn about how they operate their traffic signal function: Chandler, Mesa, Scottsdale, and Tempe. Our discussions focused on each city’s strengths; strategies to recruit, train, and retain signal staff; and workload management practices. The table below provides an overview of key characteristics of each city, and a summary of lessons learned and best practices based on our conversations. CITY NUMBER OF SIGNALS TSS STAFFING SIGNALS TO TECHNICIAN RATIO SYSTEM(S) USED USE OF CONSULTANTS OR THIRD-PARTY CONTRACTORS WORK PRIORITIZATION Glendale 209 3 Senior Traffic Signal Technicians; 1 Signal Technician 42:1 Paper forms, Excel Typically used for construction projects that require heavy machinery that the City does not own. Signal Shop Supervisor reconciles preventive maintenance work and assigns tasks to technicians. Chandler 240 1 Supervisor, 1 Signal Lead, 4 Senior Signal Technicians, and 2 Signal Technicians shared with the Streetlights Team. 34:1 Lucity Typically used to supplement staff and to complete bulk work projects, like replacing traffic cabinets. Preventive maintenance is done according to the schedule set by the Signal Shop Supervisor within the asset management system. Mesa 503 2 ITS Operations Foremen and 8 ITS Technicians 50:1 Cityworks Generally used for big-scope projects. Additionally, an on-call signal maintenance contractor will be used to augment in-house resources as necessary. 2 ITS Communication Specialists monitor work order activities within Cityworks and assign them to two ITS Analysts and Signal Technicians via radio. 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 21 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY CITY NUMBER OF SIGNALS TSS STAFFING SIGNALS TO TECHNICIAN RATIO SYSTEM(S) USED USE OF CONSULTANTS OR THIRD-PARTY CONTRACTORS WORK PRIORITIZATION Scottsdale 320 3 pairs of Signal Technician II and III 53:1 EZSystem, and a standalone Work Order system1 Not used. Technicians respond to EZSystem assignments within their maintenance zone as the work orders are announced. Tempe 355 3 Signal Technician II and 4 Signal Technicians 51:1 KONA as work order and preventive maintenance system. Vendor provided training and support for implementing new equipment or software. Work is completed in accordance with the KONA assignment schedule. Maintaining community safety and completing in-progress work are key priorities, followed by urgent requests. 1The City of Scottsdale is in the process of sunsetting their work order system and migrating to Lucity. Staffing Levels and Recruitment • Organizations typically have tiered technician staff levels to encourage staff to progress their skills and general career knowledge. • Department leadership often review job descriptions as staff leave to ensure that they remain up-to-date and reflective of work duties. • Cities commonly touted non-monetary benefits when recruiting staff to stay competitive. These often include paying for professional certification and association dues, education reimbursement, and generous defined pension plans. • The focus of recruiting efforts has shifted from identifying talent towards bringing on capable, entry-level individuals and providing on-the-job training. • It can be helpful for cities to reach out to local schools to establish apprenticeships and highlight the workforce demand for Signal Technicians. • Shifting recruitment efforts to focus on character-based hiring, and making International Municipal Signal Association (IMSA) certifications optional for applicants, can reduce barriers for candidates and allow the City to capitalize on talent that otherwise would not be accessible. • Some cities have found success in expanding their recruitment populations to include retirees re-entering the workforce. Retirees can be an effective recruitment population because of their demonstrated work ethic. 2024 Traffic Signal Shop Performance Audit Preliminary Draft Report | 22 FOR INTERNAL USE OF CITY OF GLENDALE ONLY Workload Management and Prioritization of Tasks • It is easier for teams with comprehensive work order and asset management systems to monitor progress for preventive maintenance, emergency service calls, and other work, and to ensure work is completed and fully documented. • Well-defined work prioritization policies that expressly state a first-come service basis and outline key triaging factors, such impact to public safety and whether the incident constitutes an emergency, can allow the team to stick to a regular schedule and push back on demanding customers. • Technicians should have adequate equipment and tools to complete their tasks. • Splitting the city geographically into maintenance zones that are managed by assigned technicians can help balance workloads among team members and reduce inefficiencies caused by long travel times. • Supervisors who are familiar with their team members tend to be better able to assign work assignments. • A larger team size can elongate the time between on-call rotations and make on-call responsibilities more sustainable. • Participating in industry conferences helps staff remain engaged in their work and primes them for thinking about how they can improve work processes and overall efficiency. • Leveraging administrative capacity to aid in the intake of phone calls and email from the public and to initiate work orders for reported traffic signal issues can simplify the process for monitoring and assigning work. Retention • Cities with long-tenured employees attributed their strong retention to their working environment and culture. All cities indicated that strong rapport in working relationships; an emphasis on a coordinated, face-to-face working environment; and regular acknowledgement of worker performance helped to create an empowering workplace. • Regular acknowledgement of the human side of the workforce, such as through celebrating team member birthdays and holding periodic potlucks and cookouts, helps foster first-name-basis working relationships. • Providing one-on-one training for newly onboarded and newly promoted technicians can provide an additional layer of support to help them acclimate to their roles more quickly, and can help teams begin to build strong, collaborative working relationships. • Many cities are completing or have recently completed a classification and compensation study to increase staff retention. • Most cities accept relatively high turnover rate as the new norm for the industry and have shifted their focus to enabling current staff to pursue career growth how they desire. Cities recognized that while staff leaving is inevitable, by providing on-the-job training and emphasizing high quality of work they are doing their part in developing a strong workforce. • Keeping technician job duties centered on maintenance work and separate from signal installations and other expansions that are typically part of capital improvement programs can help keep workloads manageable and aligned with job descriptions.