As part of a coordinated effort to fight one of the region’s most intractable problems, the Culver City Council voted Monday to conform to a Los Angeles County Transportation Department program to reduce traffic congestion.

Meant to address the impact of city growth on the transportation system, the city’s agreement with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (LACMTA) will ensure that it continues to receive its portion of gas tax revenues and other state and federal funds. Failing to do so will cut those benefits.

Culver City received $172,771 in state gas tax revenue for fiscal year 2010-11.

“I think it’s important that we have up-to-date information on development and activity in the region in order to do good transportation planning,” said Vice Mayor Scott Malsin.

As part of the agreement, the Congestion Management Program requires the city to continue implementation of the CMP Transportation Demand Management Ordinance; continue implementation of the CMP Land Use Analysis Program; track new development activity; and conduct biennial traffic counts and calculate levels of service for selected arterial intersections, according to a agenda item report.

“It’s a program that’s going to be evolving over time with the county,” Malsin said. “Doing the study is necessary to support the creation of a county-wide fee on new development that would be used to have a regional impact on inner traffic generated by growth in the area.”

Malsin asked whether the city clerk would review strategies to reduce travel demand. According to deputy city clerk Ela Valladares, the council will be looking into the issue. “It’s on the staff’s work program,” she said. “We will be looking at it as well as working with whether the department is on this. Right now it has not been initiated.”

After Monday’s meeting, Malsin spoke with Public Works Director Charles Herbertson to discuss the next step in the process.

Required of all new non-residential development exceeding 25,000 square feet, an item listed in the agenda calls for bicycle lockers, transit stop improvements, preferential carpool parking and other trip-reducing strategies at new development sites, according to the city’s Transportation Director Art Ida. He added that LACMTA is in the process of establishing a fee on congestion mitigation. When implemented, it will generate new revenue for local governments to build transportation projects that address future congestion.

“The transportation department is looking to analyze our current Transportation Demand Management program to see if we can make any improvements to the program in the future,” Ida said in email.

Established in response to the 1970s oil crisis, the program was developed in order to save energy, improve air quality and reduce peak period congestion.