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Suggested Citation:"Appendix H - San Diego, California, Case Study." 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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Page 55
Suggested Citation:"Appendix H - San Diego, California, Case Study." 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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Page 55
Page 56
Suggested Citation:"Appendix H - San Diego, California, Case Study." 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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Page 56

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H-1 APPENDIX H SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, CASE STUDY 1 INTRODUCTION The California Department of Transportation, District 11 (Caltrans), and California Highway Patrol (CHP) have com- bined to coordinate transportation operations and communi- cations during both normal and emergency operations in San Diego County. With respect to traffic incident management (TIM) and information sharing between the two agencies, this case study provides an analysis of • Joint planning, development, and operations of the regional traffic management center (TMC); • Roles and responsibilities of each agency in the context of TIM; • Information-sharing methods and the supporting voice and data systems; and • Technological and institutional issues that were addressed in developing data and communications systems, as well as issues that are operational in nature. This case study also examines the San Diego Regional Computer Aided Dispatch Interconnect (InterCAD) project. The project that is designed to support improved traffic oper- ations and incident management in the San Diego County portion of the Southern California Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Priority Corridor. However, because of a vari- ety of institutional and technological issues, the project was never fully implemented. The following person was the primary point of contact for this site visit: Tarbell C. Martin, P.E. (Retired) Chief, Transportation Management Center, District 11 Caltrans 7183 Opportunity Road P.O. Box 85406 San Diego, CA 92186-5406 1.1 Institutional Framework 1.1.1 Joint Planning and Development A focal point of the institutional framework that supports TIM operations is the cooperation and coordination that was fostered by Caltrans and CHP through the planning and devel- opment of the regional TMC. A shared vision of operational requirements and supporting systems, as well as joint plan- ning activities, ultimately resulted in the development of the TMC. The cooperative efforts of the champions began in 1992 and resulted in the TMC that serves the collective needs of the agencies and enables the agencies to coordinate incident management operations. This TMC became operational in 1996 and was the first fully co-located TMC in the state of California. The institutional coordination that led to the devel- opment of the TMC also provided the foundation to embark on an effort to develop a system interface between CHP and Caltrans information systems through the InterCAD project. From an institutional perspective, another arrangement unique to the San Diego region with regard to cooperatively managing freeway operations in San Diego is that service patrols are funded by the San Diego Association of Govern- ments (SANDAG). SANDAG is the metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for the San Diego region and includes representatives from each of the region’s 19 local govern- ments. This financial support demonstrates the importance that the region has collectively placed on providing travelers with safe and efficient transportation services. 1.1.2 Co-Location and Joint Operations As mentioned, a focal point of traffic operations and inci- dent management in the San Diego region is the TMC that was jointly developed by CHP and Caltrans. The purpose in developing the center was to develop a unified, co-located communications and command center for Caltrans Traffic Operations, Caltrans Maintenance, and CHP Communica- tions. The TMC provides communications and surveillance functions that are critical during normal operations, special events, and incidents (during incidents, the TMC becomes a command center for traffic operations in the region). The TMC was also designed to support operations that far exceed the normal day-to-day traffic operations. Depending on the prevailing conditions, the TMC can also serve as a cen- tral point of operations when federal, state, and local agencies have to coordinate operations with military, law enforcement, fire or civil agency efforts. As an example, the TMC has served as a focal point of operations for the Secret Service and FBI during Presidential visits to the region. In addition, the design of the center has provided eight console positions for the San Diego Sheriff’s Office should they ever be needed during emergency operations or should their primary facility become inoperable (1). CHP is operational in the center 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Caltrans staffs the TMC 24 hours a day, from 8:00 p.m. Sunday through 8:00 p.m. Friday.

1.2 Roles and Responsibilities 1.2.1 Caltrans Caltrans operates and maintains approximately 1,000 miles of freeways and highways in the San Diego region (District 11), which is the southernmost part of California. The Traf- fic Operations Department is responsible for the safe and efficient operation of all the urban freeways in the district, which includes supporting TIM functions. Caltrans functions supporting TIM include traveler information dissemination and traffic management. A focal point of the traveler information dissemination activities performed by Caltrans is maintaining a traveler infor- mation website. Information provided by the website includes • Real-time traffic speed on individual links of urban freeways, • Snapshots of closed-circuit television (CCTV) images on I-5 and the I-5/I-805 and the I5/I-805 merge area (images are updated every 90 seconds), • Current lane closures for construction and maintenance activities, • Textual descriptions of operational problems and poten- tial sources of delay on the freeways, and • A link to the CHP website that provides filtered out- puts from the CHP computer-aided dispatching (CAD) system on the location and type of incidents. Additional traveler information functions supported by Caltrans include the operation and control of more than 20 dynamic message signs (DMSs) and a highway advisory radio (HAR) system. CCTV images are also disseminated to the media through this center. The traveler information system has become a vital element of Caltrans operations while man- aging the impacts of traffic incidents. Traffic management functions supported by Caltrans include control of reversible high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane and ramp-metering stations and the collection of flow data that are used, among other reasons, to support traveler infor- mation functions. The operations of these facilities are many times adjusted to support operations during major incidents. Caltrans also operates service patrols in the San Diego region through the previously mentioned cooperative agree- ment with SANDAG. Service patrols are operated Monday through Friday during the morning and afternoon peak peri- ods. The primary function of the service patrol is to assist drivers of disabled vehicles and to help move their vehicles from travel lanes if needed. Service patrols do not actively par- ticipate in managing traffic incidents. 1.2.2 CHP CHP operates a secondary public safety answering point (PSAP) from within the TMC 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. H-2 Cellular calls from the region are routed to the PSAP, and calls from call boxes are routed to this PSAP through a private call center. CHP also dispatches patrol officers from the TMC. CHP is also the lead agency for the Multidisciplinary Acci- dent Investigation Team (MAIT). The MAIT program was established to conduct in-depth investigation and analysis of major traffic collisions throughout the state. MAIT activities include determining the cause of crashes through • Reconstruction of accidents and • Analysis of contributing factors, including human, envi- ronmental, and/or mechanical factors in the pre-crash, at-crash, and post-crash states (2). CHP also staffs a service desk from within the TMC that coordinates the dispatch of resources to the incident scene. CHP also supports traveler information functions through the broadcasts of traffic reports. A uniformed officer in the media office of the TMC broadcasts 37 traffic reports through- out the day. 2 INFORMATION-SHARING METHODS 2.1 Face-to-Face From within the TMC, Caltrans and CHP staff communi- cate face-to-face in the course of managing incidents. The con- trol room at the TMC has been specifically designed to support this type of interaction by arranging consoles in a manner that facilitates operator-to-operator contact. This arrangement has proven especially beneficial because it provides the opportu- nity to communicate openly as the incident evolves without being dependent on communications or data systems. This collaboration enables Caltrans to execute the most appropri- ate response in terms of traveller information and traffic man- agement strategies. 2.2 Remote Voice CHP communications officers located in the TMC are responsible for dispatching Caltrans service patrols. The only direct interaction between Caltrans and public safety agen- cies at the incident scene takes place during the crash inves- tigation phase. Although the service patrols are not active participants in managing major incidents, they are responsi- ble for moving disabled vehicles out of the roadway and pro- viding motorist assistance. This function helps to reduce the probability of secondary incidents and helps to restore the facility to normal flow. To enable the service patrols to inter- act with their dispatchers, the service patrols are equipped with special Caltrans radios. The radio system only enables the service patrol operator to communicate with the dispatcher in the TMC. The service patrol operator cannot be a part of a radio talk group with CHP officers in the field.

Caltrans also has a direct phone line with the City of San Diego Fire and Rescue Department. Essentially, the Caltrans dispatcher is able to communicate with the fire department using speed dial. Caltrans rarely uses this system because CHP is usually the agency that contacts the fire department. 2.3 Text Messaging Currently, Caltrans has an interface to the CHP CAD sys- tem. Caltrans characterizes this system as a “sanitized” CAD system. The system enables Caltrans operators in the TMC to enter additional detail into an incident record, but the record remains external to the CHP CAD system. Essentially, the CAD system is publishing incident data to Caltrans, which further processes the data in order to initiate the most appro- priate response to the incident. This response is in the form of traveler information dissemination and traffic manage- ment. Caltrans has the capability to archive the CAD incident data provided by CHP; however, Caltrans has opted not to do this archiving. CHP has also provides an interface to the Caltrans traveler information website. The interface enables users to view all active incidents that have been entered into the CHP’s CAD system. Data cannot be downloaded, archived, or processed. H-3 Prior to implementing the existing CAD interface, an attempt was made to develop a CAD interface between CHP and Caltrans. The InterCAD project was designed to facilitate improved incident management in the San Diego County portion of the Southern California ITS Prior- ity Corridor through the transfer of critical incident data between agencies using dissimilar CAD systems (3). The original concept for this ambitious project was to tie together the CAD systems of the CHP Border Division, the San Diego PD, the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, and the advanced traffic management system (ATMS) operated by Caltrans District 11. However, because of a variety of tech- nical and institutional issues, the system was never fully implemented. 3 REFERENCES 1. http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist11/operations/tmc1.htm 2. http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/mait.html 3. Churchill, Bruce W., and Scanlon, Pam. Information Sharing and Incident Management. Presented at the National Conference on Traffic Incident Management—A Road Map to the Future. March 11–13, 2002. Irvine, California.

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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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