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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2004. Sharing Information between Public Safety and Transportation Agencies for Traffic Incident Management. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13730.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2004. Sharing Information between Public Safety and Transportation Agencies for Traffic Incident Management. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13730.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2004. Sharing Information between Public Safety and Transportation Agencies for Traffic Incident Management. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13730.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2004. Sharing Information between Public Safety and Transportation Agencies for Traffic Incident Management. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13730.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2004. Sharing Information between Public Safety and Transportation Agencies for Traffic Incident Management. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13730.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2004. Sharing Information between Public Safety and Transportation Agencies for Traffic Incident Management. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13730.
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T R A N S P O R T A T I O N R E S E A R C H B O A R D WASHINGTON, D.C. 2004 www.TRB.org NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM NCHRP REPORT 520 Research Sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in Cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration SUBJECT AREAS Highway Operations, Capacity, and Traffic Control Sharing Information between Public Safety and Transportation Agencies for Traffic Incident Management KEN BROOKE KEVIN DOPART TED SMITH AIMEE FLANNERY Mitretek Systems, Inc. Washington, DC

NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM Systematic, well-designed research provides the most effective approach to the solution of many problems facing highway administrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local interest and can best be studied by highway departments individually or in cooperation with their state universities and others. However, the accelerating growth of highway transportation develops increasingly complex problems of wide interest to highway authorities. These problems are best studied through a coordinated program of cooperative research. In recognition of these needs, the highway administrators of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials initiated in 1962 an objective national highway research program employing modern scientific techniques. This program is supported on a continuing basis by funds from participating member states of the Association and it receives the full cooperation and support of the Federal Highway Administration, United States Department of Transportation. The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies was requested by the Association to administer the research program because of the Board’s recognized objectivity and understanding of modern research practices. The Board is uniquely suited for this purpose as it maintains an extensive committee structure from which authorities on any highway transportation subject may be drawn; it possesses avenues of communications and cooperation with federal, state and local governmental agencies, universities, and industry; its relationship to the National Research Council is an insurance of objectivity; it maintains a full-time research correlation staff of specialists in highway transportation matters to bring the findings of research directly to those who are in a position to use them. The program is developed on the basis of research needs identified by chief administrators of the highway and transportation departments and by committees of AASHTO. Each year, specific areas of research needs to be included in the program are proposed to the National Research Council and the Board by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Research projects to fulfill these needs are defined by the Board, and qualified research agencies are selected from those that have submitted proposals. Administration and surveillance of research contracts are the responsibilities of the National Research Council and the Transportation Research Board. The needs for highway research are many, and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program can make significant contributions to the solution of highway transportation problems of mutual concern to many responsible groups. The program, however, is intended to complement rather than to substitute for or duplicate other highway research programs. Note: The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, the National Research Council, the Federal Highway Administration, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and the individual states participating in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of this report. Published reports of the NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM are available from: Transportation Research Board Business Office 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 and can be ordered through the Internet at: http://www.national-academies.org/trb/bookstore Printed in the United States of America NCHRP REPORT 520 Project 3-63 FY’01 ISSN 0077-5614 ISBN 0-309-08792-9 Library of Congress Control Number 2004105207 © 2004 Transportation Research Board Price $22.00 NOTICE The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. Such approval reflects the Governing Board’s judgment that the program concerned is of national importance and appropriate with respect to both the purposes and resources of the National Research Council. The members of the technical committee selected to monitor this project and to review this report were chosen for recognized scholarly competence and with due consideration for the balance of disciplines appropriate to the project. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied are those of the research agency that performed the research, and, while they have been accepted as appropriate by the technical committee, they are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, or the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. Each report is reviewed and accepted for publication by the technical committee according to procedures established and monitored by the Transportation Research Board Executive Committee and the Governing Board of the National Research Council.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished schol- ars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. On the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and techni- cal matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Acad- emy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achieve- ments of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, on its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Acad- emy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both the Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. The Transportation Research Board is a division of the National Research Council, which serves the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. The Board’s mission is to promote innovation and progress in transportation through research. In an objective and interdisciplinary setting, the Board facilitates the sharing of information on transportation practice and policy by researchers and practitioners; stimulates research and offers research management services that promote technical excellence; provides expert advice on transportation policy and programs; and disseminates research results broadly and encourages their implementation. The Board’s varied activities annually engage more than 4,000 engineers, scientists, and other transportation researchers and practitioners from the public and private sectors and academia, all of whom contribute their expertise in the public interest. The program is supported by state transportation departments, federal agencies including the component administrations of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other organizations and individuals interested in the development of transportation. www.TRB.org www.national-academies.org

COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAMS STAFF FOR NCHRP REPORT 520 ROBERT J. REILLY, Director, Cooperative Research Programs CRAWFORD F. JENCKS, NCHRP Manager B. RAY DERR, Senior Program Officer EILEEN P. DELANEY, Managing Editor BETH HATCH, Assistant Editor NCHRP PROJECT 3-63 PANEL Field of Traffic—Area of Operations and Control TIMOTHY D. SCHOCH, Advanced Regional Traffic Interactive Management Information Center, Cincinnati, OH (Chair) SUE GROTH, Minnesota DOT DAVID HELMAN, FHWA DANIEL W. HOWARD, New York State DOT DAVID A. KINNECOM, Utah DOT ANDY MacFARLANE, Phoenix Fire Department CHARLES “CHUCK” MILLER, HNTB Corporation, Kansas City, MO JEAN-YVES POINT-DU-JOUR, Maryland State Highway Administration TOM POLONIS, San Antonio Police Department RANDY VanGORDER, FHWA Liaison Representative RICHARD A. CUNARD, TRB Liaison Representative AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research reported herein was performed under NCHRP Proj- ect 3-63 by Mitretek Systems, Inc. The principal investigators were Kevin Dopart, Manager, and Ken Brooke, Principal Engineer. The other authors of this report were Aimee Flannery and Ted Smith, both Lead Engineers at Mitretek Systems. The work was done under the general supervision of Ken Brooke.

This report presents lessons learned from around the country on how public safety and transportation agencies share information for managing traffic incidents. Managers of traf- fic incident management programs, either public safety or transportation, can apply these lessons to improve the capabilities of their programs. “Incident management is defined as the systematic, planned, and coordinated use of human, institutional, mechanical, and technical resources to reduce the duration and impact of incidents, and improve the safety of motorists, crash victims, and incident responders (Traffic Incident Management Handbook, 2000).” There are many organi- zations involved in traffic incident management, including public safety agencies (e.g., law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical services); transportation agencies; and other types of responders (e.g., environmental conservation, medical examiners, and towing and recovery). Efficient response is both a public safety issue and a mobility issue, because longer response and clearance times mean less effective critical care, more traffic congestion, and reduced mobility. Interagency exchange of information promotes rapid, efficient, and appropriate response from all agencies. Public safety agencies benefit from obtaining closed-circuit television pictures for verification and assessment of an incident as they begin their response. This visual information helps the agencies to dispatch the appropriate response teams and to recall those teams if the incident clears up before they arrive. Public safety agencies can also benefit from information regarding traffic conditions on the response route and special information, such as blocked railroad crossings or construction, that might affect the response. Transportation agencies also benefit from sharing information. Even in areas with good video surveillance, the great majority of incidents are first reported by cell phone to 911 public safety answering points (PSAPs). These PSAPs cover the entire trans- portation system while video surveillance is typically limited to the urban freeways. In most metropolitan areas, public safety agencies use computer-aided dispatch, which is often the best source of timely, detailed information on traffic incidents. In addition to sending response teams to the scene, transportation agencies can initiate actions such as variable message sign and highway advisory radio messages, traffic signal timing changes, and public information notices based on the information they receive from the public safety agencies. In NCHRP Project 3-63, Mitretek Systems identified several regions across the United States with active traffic incident management programs. They then visited both public safety and transportation agencies in these regions and conducted in-depth inter- views to determine how information is being shared and how well those methods work. The report includes detailed studies of the regions visited and a summary of lessons learned. FOREWORD By B. Ray Derr Staff Officer Transportation Research Board

1 CHAPTER 1 Summary 4 CHAPTER 2 Introduction 2.1 Incident Management Context for Traffic Operations, 4 2.2 Research Approach, 5 2.3 What Information and Methods of Sharing Were Considered? 5 7 CHAPTER 3 Information Sharing for Traffic Incident Management 3.1 Summary of Case Study Results, 7 3.1.1 Albany, 7 3.1.2 Austin, 7 3.1.3 Cincinnati, 7 3.1.4 Minneapolis, 7 3.1.5 Phoenix, 9 3.1.6 Salt Lake City, 9 3.1.7 San Antonio, 9 3.1.8 San Diego, 9 3.1.9 Seattle, 9 3.2 Methods Used in Practice, 10 3.2.1 Face-to-Face, 10 3.2.2 Remote Voice, 10 3.2.3 Electronic Text, 11 3.2.4 Other Media and Advanced Systems, 11 13 CHAPTER 4 Implications and Challenges 4.1 Benefits and Performance Measures, 13 4.2 Institutional Implications, 13 4.2.1 Frameworks, 13 4.2.2 Relationships, 14 4.3 Technology Implications, 14 4.4 Operational Implications, 15 4.4.1 Information to Support Emergency Response, 15 4.4.2 Service Patrols, 16 4.4.3 Full-Time Operations, 16 4.4.4 Incident Management System and Interagency Training, 16 4.4.5 Security, Terrorism, and Homeland Defense, 17 19 CHAPTER 5 Conclusions and Recommendations 20 CHAPTER 6 References A-1 APPENDIX A Albany, New York, Case Study B-1 APPENDIX B Austin, Texas, Case Study C-1 APPENDIX C Cincinnati, Ohio, Case Study D-1 APPENDIX D Minneapolis, Minnesota, Case Study E-1 APPENDIX E Phoenix, Arizona, Case Study F-1 APPENDIX F Salt Lake City, Utah, Case Study G-1 APPENDIX G San Antonio, Texas, Case Study H-1 APPENDIX H San Diego, California, Case Study I-1 APPENDIX I Seattle, Washington, Case Study CONTENTS

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TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 520: Sharing Information between Public Safety and Transportation Agencies for Traffic Incident Management presents lessons learned from around the country on how public safety and transportation agencies share information for managing traffic incidents.

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