Appendixes to Measuring and Communicating the Effects of Traffic Incident Management Improvements (2004)

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Appendix B: Marketing Examples B-1

TMCs continued on back page Summer 1999 In the world of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), Traffic Management Centers (TMC) are to traffic engineers what NASA’s Mission Control is to astronauts — the nerve center. As ITS moves from the conceptual phase to implementation in South Florida, a number of transportation agencies have TMCs on the drawing board. FDOT’s District Four in Fort Lauderdale is planning a two-story TMC on Commercial Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale where FDOT and Broward County Traffic Engineering will be co- located. The project will be funded with federal, state and county dollars and is targeted to be operational in 2005. FDOT is considering building an interim TMC at the District Four headquarters if necessary. Florida’s Turnpike District plans to build a TMC at its Pompano Beach Turnpike Operations Center with Florida Highway Patrol and the Office of Toll Operations planning to be onsite. The Turnpike TMC is scheduled to be partially operational this November. FDOT District Six in Miami recently moved into an interim TMC housed at the District Six headquarters with plans for the permanent TMC to go to construction in FY 2001-02. Florida Highway Patrol will be co-located with FDOT at the Miami TMC. Once built, the TMCs will give South Florida traffic managers a physical location to monitor traffic conditions, respond to incidents and coordinate ITS programs. “The TMC will be a command center of sorts,” said Rory Santana, District Six Traffic Operations Engineer. “We will have real-time Volume 1, Issue 2 Traffic Management Centers on drawing board District Four’s TMC will house Broward County Traffic Engineering as well as FDOT staff. B-2

What they carry SunGuide South Florida’s ITS Newsletter SunGuide Service Patrol expands coverage areas Florida DOT’s regional SunGuide service patrol program, started in 1995, is expanding. Service patrols are operating on Interstate 95 and the Dolphin Ex- pressway (State Road 836) in Miami and will be added to the Palmetto Expressway (State Road 826) this summer. The Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) plans to add service patrols on the Don Shula Expressway (State Road 874), Snapper Creek Expressway (State Road 878), Airport Expressway (State Road 112) and Gratigny Parkway (State Road 924) later this year. FDOT and MDX, partners in the SunGuide service patrol program in Miami-Dade, are operating eight trucks with plans to expand to 21 trucks by the end of 1999. FDOT’s Fort Lauderdale office is running service patrols on Interstate 95, Interstate 595 and Interstate 75 in Broward and Palm Beach counties with plans to expand the service to Interstate 95 in Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties. “We are running 15 service patrol trucks now and plan to increase our coverage to weekends in the future,” said Rick Mitinger of FDOT’s Traffic Operations Office in Fort Lauderdale. Service patrols operate weekdays from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Miami- Dade County and from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Service patrols were first used on FDOT construction projects. A strong and positive response from motorists resulted in the department looking at service patrols as a permanent service. In Broward and Palm Beach counties, FDOT is installing automated vehicle location (AVL) devices to track the service patrol trucks. Trucks in Miami-Dade have the AVL devices. “With AVL we can know where the trucks are at any given time,” said Mitinger. “Service patrols are useful tools in freeway incident management,” said Giovanni Cestari of FDOT’s Miami office. “Having patrol trucks on the free- ways helps us to clear an incident and reduce congestion delays by as much as 45 percent. That allows traffic to get back to a normal flow and lessens delays to motorists,” he said. The 3,500 motorists assisted each month by the service patrols in South Florida are the program’s biggest fans. Having a service patrol driver stop and offer gasoline, water, booster cables, cellular phones and flat tire service at no cost has cast the agency in a hero’s role. “People stranded on the expressways are often in a dangerous situation. Our drivers come to the rescue and we get some strong testimonials. The main reason for having the service patrols may be to keep traffic moving, but people who get helped will tell you the service patrols make the highways safer as well,” said Cestari. • Cell phones • Fire extinguish- ers • Air compressor • Auto fluids • Flashlight • Booster cables • First aid kits • Drinking water • Flashing arrow board • Flares • Broom and shovel • Tire repair kit • 2-ton jack • 5 gallons sand • Wood blocks • Radiator water • Public address system • Reflective cones B-3

SunGuide South Florida’s ITS Newsletter Florida DOT kicked off its much- awaited SunPass electronic toll collec- tion system in April at six plazas in Broward and Palm Beach counties. In June, SunPass moved into Miami-Dade County at toll plazas on Gratigny Parkway (S.R. 924), Dolphin Expressway (S.R. 836), Airport Expressway (S.R. 112), Don Shula (S.R. 874) and the Florida’s Turnpike Extension. By the end of the year, all toll plazas on South Florida’s expressways will be using SunPass, becoming part of 117 toll plazas state- wide that will have SunPass by the end of 2000. The system will enable motorists to save time and money while creating more efficient, less congested roadways. SunPass allows motor- ists to pass through toll plaza lanes without having to stop while tolls are electronically deducted from customers’ prepaid accounts. A single dedicated lane processes up to 1,800 vehicles per hour — 300 percent more than a conventional toll lane. Tampa toll roads, including the Veterans and Sunshine Skyway Bridge Expressways, are planned for conversion beginning in November and continuing throughout 2000. Orlando area toll roads are scheduled to be operational by the end of summer 2000. Frequent users of SunPass will receive a 10 percent rebate after 40 or more transactions are made each month on Florida’s Turnpike. Less than two trips per day on average are required to receive the discount. Similar discounts will be available on select toll roads throughout Florida. “This is a $38.6 million project designed to benefit everyone by making toll road driving easier and more convenient,” said Deborah Stemle, FDOT director of toll operations. “By the year 2000, SunPass will be operational on more than 450 toll lanes throughout Florida.” SunPass combines 90 dedicated and 365 mixed-use lanes. The 90 dedicated lanes are clearly marked for SunPass users only, allowing motorists to pass through toll plazas at speeds up to 25 miles per hour without being re- quired to stop to pay a toll. The new high-tech system is comprised of small, pocket-sized “transponders” which attach to the inside of car windshields, transmitting and receiving signals between each toll facility. As a motorist ap- proaches a toll plaza, the SunPass transponder processes the toll transaction as the motorist continues through the SunPass toll lanes. SunPass transponders cost $25 and require a minimum opening balance of $25. Transponders are warrantied against manufacturing problems or defects for 90 days after the date of purchase. To get into the fast lane and save time and money with SunPass call 1-888-TOLL-FLA or visit www.SunPass.com. South Florida gets electronic tolls Signs of the Times — FDOT’s Dynamic Message Signs (DMS) at the Golden Glades Interchange (GGI) in Miami- Dade County are operational, providing motorists with traffic updates on conditions in and around the interchange. Four major highways, Interstate 95, Florida’s Turnpike, Palmetto Expressway and U.S. 441, converge at GGI. ITS Administrator Arvind Kumbhojkar said the GGI signs are one of the first elements of a comprehensive SunGuide Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) that will deliver traffic information to motorists in South Florida. B-4

SunGuide Glossary Continued from front page TMCs SunGuide South Florida’s ITS Newsletter information coming in from pavement sensors and cameras and will distribute that informa- tion to motorists in real-time. Law enforcement and emergency services will be at the table and will allow coordinated responses to freeway incidents and rush hour congestion,” said Santana. “The TMC is another piece in the puzzle. We want to evolve to managing traffic rather than traffic managing us,” he added. Patterned after TMCs in Atlanta, Los Ange- les and a number of other cities, the South Florida TMCs will feature video walls and computer stations connected by high-speed communications links. “The key to success in ITS is accessing real- time information and delivering it to motorists via an assortment of methods. The TMC be- comes our Mission Control for that process,” said Santana. FDOT kicks off Radio Advisory Program The Florida De- partment of Transpor- tation (FDOT) and the Traveler Information Radio Network (TIRN) kick off a first-in-the- nation statewide radio advisory program for Florida’s highway travelers this summer. Radio station WTIR 1680 AM in Central Florida is scheduled to be the first TIRN network station to start opera- tions. WTIR reaches listeners in Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Brevard counties, an area dominated by six theme parks, includ- ing Disney World. “Our talk-radio format is designed to share with travelers all the great places to eat, sleep, and have fun in our great state. It will enhance the travel experience for millions of our resi- dents and visitors while making their travel safer and easier,” said TIRN’s Joe Gettys. Stations in Gainesville, Lake City, Daytona, St. Augustine and Jack- sonville will follow. Eventually, the TIRN format will be broadcast over a network of 18 com- mercial radio stations throughout Florida informing travelers about the state while at the same time alerting them to adverse traffic or weather conditions. “Under the unique partnership between FDOT and TIRN, the department will administer the pro- gram while TIRN will pay for it entirely with private sector funds,” said FDOT spokesman Dick Kane. The costs include more than $9 million for staffing, equipment and the placement of “Traveler Info” signs on the state’s highways so motorists can tune to a TIRN affiliate as they travel through Florida. During routine operations, FDOT will have one minute of each ten minute broadcast segment to air highway safety public service an- nouncements. ATIS — Advanced Traveler Information System. A high-tech system that delivers real- time traffic information to motorists and travelers uses pavement sensors and cameras to inform motorists and travelers via dynamic message signs, internet websites,e-mail, pag- ers, onboard computers, traffic kiosks and conventional news media outlets. ATIS will provide the smart information for the smart highways of the near future. ETC — Electronic Toll Collection. This term refers to a variety of methods used to collect tolls via car-mounted transponders that communicate with tollbooths, deducting tolls from established accounts. Eliminates stopping at tollbooths and digging for coins. The world of Intelligent Transportation Sys- tems (ITS) is filled with acronyms and techni- cal terms. We list a few definitions to help our readers expand their ITS vocabulary. The SunGuide newsletter is a publication of the Florida Department of Transporta- tion. For more information about SunGuide call 305- 470-5830. B-5

Carla W. Holmes, P.E. State Traffic Operations Engineer Gary Milsaps Incident Response Manager Transportation Management Center Wayne Shackelford Building 935 E. Confederate Ave., Bldg. 24 Atlanta, Georgia 30316 Prepared by URS Corporation Highway Emergency Response Operator Monthly Statistics Total HERO Assists By Month* * Includes all incident categories: accidents, stalls, debris, property damage, abandoned vehicles & other Total HERO Assists By Shift October 2003 4 , 2 7 8 4 , 2 7 9 4 , 6 8 55 , 4 1 9 4 , 8 6 3 4 , 1 5 3 4 , 8 6 0 4 , 3 6 1 3 , 5 8 0 3 , 9 7 8 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 Jan-03 Feb-03 Mar-03 Apr-03 May-03 Jun-03 Jul-03 Aug-03 Sep-03 Oct-03 1,781 2,065 255 177 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 Alpha: M-F, 0500 - 1330 Bravo: M-F, 1300 - 2130 Charlie: Weekend, Various Midshift Delta: M-F, 2100 - 0530 B-6

Highway Emergency Response Operator Monthly Statistics October 2003 Total Assists By Route Number* * See HERO route map on Page 3 for a location reference Total Assists by Type Total Assists by Detection Type 141 537 407 379 43 386 420 323 124 470 307 140 320 281 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 Supervis o r Ro ute # 1 Ro ute # 2 Ro ute # 3 Ro ute # 4 Ro ute # 5 Ro ute # 6 Ro ute # 7 Ro ute # 8 Ro ute # 9 Ro ute # 10 Ro ute # 11 Ro ute # 12 Ro ute # 13 94, 2% 4, 0% 798, 19% 2,665, 62% 649, 15% 68, 2% Accident Stall Debris Property Damage Abandoned Vehicle Other 51325 3,893 HERO Patrol TMC Detect Other DOT Detect B-7

14th St. 10th St. North Peachtree Rd. Chamblee- Dunwoody Rd. N orthcrest Rd . INTERSTATE 75 GEORGIA INTERSTATEGEORGIA 285 INTERSTATEGEORGIA 675 78 10 166 INTERSTATE 20 GEORGIA INTERSTATE 85 GEORGIA INTERSTATE 85 GEORGIA HERO Routes Metro Atlanta Freeways N. Shallowford Road Pleasantdale Rd . MP 272 MP 270 MP 268 MP 2 MP 4 MP 6 MP 266 MP 264 MP 262 MP 260 MP 8 MP 12 MP 14 MP 16 MP 18 MP 20 MP 104 MP 102 MP 100 MP 98 MP 96 MP 94 MP 92 MP 90 MP 88 MP 34 MP 36 MP 38 MP 40 MP 42 MP 44 MP 46 MP 48 MP 74 MP 72 MP 70 MP 68 MP 66 MP 64 MP 62 MP 60 MP 46 MP 50 MP 52 MP 54 MP 56 MP 58 MP 8 MP 10 MP 12 MP 14 MP 16 MP 18 MP 20 MP 22 MP 10 MP 12 MP 14 MP 6 MP 4 MP 2 MP 68 MP 66 MP 64 MP 62 MP 60 MP 58 MP 56 MP 224 MP 226 MP 2 MP 230 MP 4 MP 6 MP 8 MP 232 MP 234 MP 236 MP 238 MP 240 MP 242MP 76 MP 74 MP 72 MP 70 (I-85) MP 60 MP 58 MP 56 MP 54 MP 52 MP 50 MP 32 MP 30MP 28 MP 2 MP 4 MP 6 MP 258 MP 256 MP 254 MP 252 MP 250 MP 86 MP 248 246 MP 244 MP 62 (I-285) MP 274 CLAYTON HENRY MP 48 MP 228 MP 10 Toll Plaza INTERSTATEGEORGIA 575 403 402 413 401 403 407 401 CLAYTON HENRY DEKALB GWINNETT COBB FULTON FULTON MP 24 MP 26 FAYETTE 402 MP 42 INTERSTATE 20 GEORGIA MP 44 DOUGLAS CITY OF ATLANTA INTERSTATE 75 GEORGIA CREATED BY: GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT CENTER PLANNING SECTION OCTOBER 2002 1.0 1.2 0.6 1.0 0.4 0.8 1.2 0.31.3 1.61.7 1.8 0.1 0.6 1.8 1.5 1.3 2.1 1.0 1.4 0.8 2.2 2.3 2.3 1.5 1.3 0.5 0.7 1.3 2.0 0.5 0.5 1.9 1.9 0.4 2.0 2.8 2.0 1.7 1.0 1.7 0.3 1.9 0.9 0.7 1.4 0.2 2.6 0.5 EXIT 52 I-285 E/W to I-675 INTERSTATE 75 GEORGIA INTERSTATE 85 GEORGIA INTERSTATE 75 GEORGIA INTERSTATE 75 GEORGIA INTERSTATE 20 GEORGIA INTERSTATE 20 GEORGIA 400 Route #12 Route # 1 Route # 6 Route # 7 Route # 9 Route # 13 Route # 3 Route # 5 Route # 4 Route # 8 Route # 11 400 INTERSTATEGEORGIA 285 407 INTERSTATE 85 GEORGIA INTERSTATE 75 GEORGIA 316 INTERSTATEGEORGIA 285 INTERSTATEGEORGIA 285 407 Route # 10 Route # 2 COWETA SOLID COLOR = PEAK ROUTE SOLID COLOR + DASH LINE = OFF PEAK ROUTE Solid black lines = out of patrol cover area B-8

Highway Emergency Response Operator Monthly Statistics October 2003 Most Active Routes by Assist Types HERO Assists by Roadway Accident Assists, 34.8% Stall Assists, 34.0% Debris Assists, 37.2% 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% Accident Assists Stall Assists Debris Assists Routes with most: Accident Assists Stall Assists Debris Assists Route #1 113 Route #1 345 Route #12 13 Route #2 92 Route #9 305 Route #9 11 Route #7 21 Route #3 256 Route #6 11 Total # of Assists 226 906 35 % Total of All Routes: 34.8% 34.0% 37.2% 0 500 1,000 1,500 I-75 I-85 I-285 GA400 Connector I-20 Other September Assists October Assists B-9

Highway Emergency Response Operator Monthly Statistics October 2003 HERO Assists Worked by Day of Week Lanes Blocked During Assists * Other Includes: Auxiliary Lanes, Coll./Dist., Entrance Ramps, Exit Ramps and HOV Number of times the following lanes have been blocked upon a HERO unit’s arrival 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 M o n d a y T u e s d a y W e d n e s d a y T h u r s d a y F r i d a y S a t u r d a y S u n d a y Travel Lanes, 1,079 Left Shoulder, 334 Right Shoulder, 2,934 Other, 209 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 B-10

Page 4 Highway Emergency Response Operator Monthly Statistics October 2003 Data Key Total HERO Assists By Month – This chart reflects the total number of assists that the HERO’s have made stops for over the past months. Assists include: accidents, stalls, debris, property damages, abandoned vehicles and ‘other’. Total HERO Assists By Shift – This chart reflects the four scheduled HERO shifts (Alpha – Bravo), their hours of duty (note – Charlie shift works weekends and 2 shifts during the week), and their total assists they have been on the scene of over the past month. Total Assists By Route Number – The HERO’s are assigned routes one through thirteen and patrol only their route over the course of their shift (unless pulled ‘off-route’ by either a Supervisor or HERO Dispatcher). This chart reflects the total number of HERO assists that have been worked over the past month, by route number. Note – the next page reflects the coverage of each route on a map of the metro-Atlanta area. Total Assists by Type – This chart breaks down by assist type the stops made by the HERO’s. Assist types include: accidents, stalls, debris removal, property damage, abandoned vehicle, and other (i.e. construction support) Total Assist by Detection Type – HERO’s list on their log sheets after each incident how they came across the incident. They either ran across the incident while on patrol and stopped (referred to as HERO Patrol), they are notified via SouthernLinc radio of the incident and its location by HERO Dispatchers (referred to as TMC detect) or another agency / DOT department identifies the problem and requests HERO assistance (referred to as Other DOT Detect). HERO Routes – This page will remain static each month. Its purpose is to visually show the routes that are associated with each route number (1 – 13). Solid color lines reflect a HERO route at its peak (during rush hours), a dashed black and color line show the same route during its off peak hours (after rush hour periods), and a solid black line reflects a segment of roadway not yet routinely patrolled by HERO’s. Most Active Routes by Assist Types – This chart and table show the 3 most active routes for each of the categories of: accidents, stalls, and debris assists. Frequently a majority of these three assist types will fall on three extremely active routes. This chart shows what the three most active routes are in each of these assist categories in comparison to the entire number of assists offered over all routes for that category. Month over month, you will notice that just under half of the total assists occur on the top 3 routes under each category. HERO Assists by Roadway – This chart reflects the total number of HERO assists there have been on each of Atlanta’s major roadways. ‘Others’ would include: SR166, I-575, I-675, etc. HERO Assists Worked by Day of Week – This chart reflects the number of HERO assists there have been by the day of week. Along with the previously descried charts showing assists by time of day (shift) and route number, a good decision can be made as to when and where HERO’s should be scheduled. Lanes Blocked – This chart describes which lane segment was blocked when the HERO first arrives on the scene. While a vast majority of assists are come across on the right shoulder, many are also discovered on the left should, travel lanes and ‘other’ (other can be defined as the auxiliary lane, exit-ramp, on-ramp, HOV, and coll. dist.) B-11

Spring 2002 INCIDENT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM BACKGROUND “Incident Management just makes sense. We, as professionals, are responsible for providing the public with an efficiently operated and safe transportation system. The impact of not doing so is significant – personal injuries, time loss, fuel consumption, delays in critical goods reaching their destination and other economic impacts”. – Thomas Brahms, Executive Director, Institute of Transportation Engineers. WHAT ARE INCIDENTS? Incidents are any non-recurring events, which result in either a reduction in roadway capacity or an increase in traffic demand. Incidents include predictable events such as Chiefs games, Kansas Speedway events, parades, concerts, and unpredictable events such as accidents, stalled vehicles, bad weather, cargo spills and structural failures (such as a collapsed bridge or a washed-out or high water on road). Each of these incidents can result in considerable congestion, delay, wasted fuel and even secondary accidents. Common types of incidents include: ? Stalled vehicle on shoulder with driver present. ? Stalled car blocking one lane of pavement. ? Abandoned vehicle blocking a lane. ? Pedestrians. ? Minor accidents. ? Motor vehicle crashes involving serious personal injury. ? Motor vehicles on fire. ? Major truck accidents. ? Accidents with hazardous materials. ? Accidents when a load of cargo is spilled. ? Fatal accidents. ? Overturned car or trucks. ? Downed power lines or high water across highways. B-12

Spring 2002 WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS OF INCIDENTS? The primary considerations related to incidents include vehicle delay to motorists and the safety of motorists and emergency response crews. In summary, the vast majority of incidents are vehicle disablements and minor accidents. During off-peak periods when traffic volumes are low, these incidents have little or no impact on freeway traffic. But when traffic volumes are high, their cumulative effect is substantial. Police and tow trucks can clear these incidents rapidly and efficiently if all agencies give this work high priority. Incident congestion can be reduced considerably by assigning a high priority to the detection and clearance of minor incidents. Traffic Congestion and Vehicle Delay Although urban freeways make up less than 2.4% of the total urban highway mileage, they carry approximately 20% of the traffic nationwide. Congestion on this roadway system can occur under recurring conditions (i.e., due to capacity or operations problems) or can be caused by accidents or breakdowns known as non-recurring congestion. By some estimates, as much as 60% of all freeway congestion is considered non-recurring. Thus, a key strategy for reducing congestion in major urban areas is to handle accidents and incidents as quickly as possible to keep traffic flowing. Limiting the impact on traffic of non-recurring events such as crashes, traffic stops, fire or disabled vehicles through effective incident management should be the top priority of the Incident Management Program. It is estimated that annual delay due to congestion is more than 2 billion hours at a cost exceeding $16 billion per year. The FHWA has estimated that nearly 60% of this delay is due to accidents. The Incident Management Manual is not a tool to eliminate congestion totally but rather to reduce the effects that incidents in traffic have on road capacity and travel conditions. The impacts of time of day: To demonstrate the impact of the time of day on the amount of delay, consider a study conducted in California. This study found that every minute of delay during the off-peak period results in five minutes of congestion. The impacts of lane closures: Closing even one lane has a significant impact on roadway capacity and vehicle delay. While lane closures are sometimes inevitable at the incident site, it is important to recognize the impacts of lane closure. A study by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) demonstrates the effect of lane closure on the capacity of a divided B-13

Spring 2002 multi-lane roadway. Consider an incident on a freeway with three lanes in each direction and shoulders (similar of I-35, I-70 and I-435). • An incident on the shoulder reduces the capacity of the roadway to 82% of its typical capacity even though no lanes are blocked. • An incident blocking one lane of traffic reduces the capacity of the roadway to 87% of its typical capacity. • An incident blocking two of the three lanes of traffic reduces the capacity of the highway to just 15% of typical capacity. These findings indicate that closing lanes has a greater impact on traffic flow than might be expected. Closing one lane of a three-lane cross section does not merely reduce the capacity to 2/3 (or 66%) of its typical capacity, as might be expected, but rather it reduces the capacity to 87%. Similarly, an incident on the shoulder reduces capacity - - even though the travel path is not directly affected. The results of this study show the dramatic impact of lane blockage on capacity and vehicle delay, and demonstrate the importance of clearing the roadway as quickly as possible. How major are the impacts of incidents related congestion? It is important not only to consider the factors that contribute to incident delay, but also to recognize the magnitude of incident delay. Many studies have been conducted to examine the relationship between the frequency of incidents, the resulting delays and the associated cost. United States Secretary of Transportation Fredrico Pena noted in his January 1996 speech to the Transportation Research Board nationally, “50 to 60 percent of rush hour congestion is caused by accidents, stalled cars or some other incident”. This has been confirmed by other studies. Furthermore, the proportion of delay caused by incidents is even greater here in Kansas City, where recurring delay caused by peak hour congestion is not as much of a problem as in bigger cities like Los Angles, but it is still very significant. It is estimated that 70% of all highway incidents are recorded by police and highway agencies, usually as brief annotations in communication logs. The other 30% go unreported and, as such, are assumed to be minor incidents having little or no effect on traffic. Of the incidents that are recorded by police and highway departments, the vast majorities, some 80%, are vehicle disablement - - cars and trucks that have run out of gas, flat tires or have been abandoned by their driver. Of these, 80% wind up on the shoulder for an average of 15 to 30 minutes. During off-peak hours when traffic volumes are low these disabled vehicles have little or no impact on traffic flow. But when traffic volumes are high the presence of a stalled car or driver changing a flat tire on the shoulder can slow traffic in the adjacent travel lane, causing 100 – 200 vehicle-hours of delay to other motorist. B-14

Spring 2002 Metropolitan areas are growing rapidly and their congestion is creating sticky rides on the national highway system. Over 75% of the United States population now live in urban areas. Since 1970, most of the growth in population and jobs has been in metropolitan areas. More people are working. Almost 67% of the adult population are working and women make up almost half the nation’s work forces. In the 1970’s employment grew about twice as fast as population, the highest rate of expansion in any decade since the 1900’s. Today more people have cars. The majority of the households now have 2 or more cars. As a nation we have more vehicles than licensed driver. Most all people are commuting by car. Automobiles now account for over 80% of all work trips. The growth in travel has outpaced our investment in highways. Demographic projects suggest that congestion will now be appreciable in the foreseeable future: • Population growth is slowing but is still expected to grow by 30 million people over the next 20 years. This is the equivalent to 70% of the population growth experienced over the last 30 years. • For the next 20 years the baby-boom generation will be middle aged providing a source of economic growth and travel demand. Incidents cause more than 60% of the metro-area freeway congestion. The Federal Highway Administration reports incidents account for approximately 60% of all urban freeways delay in the United States. Mitigation of such delays through rapid and reliable incident detection is a vital traffic management object. According to the Federal Highway Administration estimates for as far back as 1987, incident congestion cost the nation 1.3 billion vehicle hours of delay or a loss of nearly $10 million. In most metropolitan areas incident related delay accounts for between 50% and 55% of the total congestion delay. In small urban areas, it can amount for an even larger portion, according to traffic studies conducted by the American Trucking Association in cooperation with Cambridge Systematic Inc. It is estimated that major incidents make up 5% - 15% of all accidents and cause 2,500 – 5,000 vehicle-hours of delay per incident. A very few of these major incidents, typically those involving hazardous materials, last 10-12 hours and cause 30,000-40,000 vehicle-hours of delay. These types of B-15

Spring 2002 incidents are handled but their impacts can be catastrophic and trigger gridlock on the freeways. The urban areas of the United State have experienced tremendous population growth over the past 10 years. With this growth has come rapidly worsening traffic, as both passenger vehicles and freight carriers stretch the capacity of our road system. The increased number of one – or two – occupant vehicles has overburdened our highway system to the point that peak periods of highway use (“rush hours”) frequently extend 2 to 6 hours. Traffic slows to 30-35 MPH on roadways designed to move vehicles at 55 MPH or more. The result is more pollution, more frustrated commuters, and a higher cost of commuting due to increased fuel consumption. The additional fuel consumption annually in the 10 most congested urban areas; because of incidents range from 56 to 383 more gallons of fuel. This translates to an annual cost for each eligible driver of $140 to $291 per year. Unlike recurring congestion, (congestion during the morning and evening rush hours) which occurs regularly at the same location and time of day, the location and time of congestion created by incidents is generally unpredictable. Once an incident occurs, the effectiveness of the response depends not only on coordination at the incident scene, but also on pre- planning and an appreciation for the activities and goals of other agencies at the scene. The Institute of Transportation Engineer(s) (ITE) has estimated 10-45% decrease in travel time during congested times when using an incident management program. For the purpose of this guide, incident management is defined as: An operational strategy for a transportation network that involves a coordinated and planned inter-jurisdictional, cross-functional, multi-disciplinary, and ongoing approach to restore traffic to normal conditions after an incident occurs, and to minimize the delay caused by resulting disruption to the traffic flow. Organized traffic incident management is the primary tool in mitigating the impact. GOAL OF INCIDENT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM The goal of this Incident Management Program is to facilitate efficient clearance of incident sites on major roadway facilities in the Kansas City metro area. This goal can be accomplished by pre-planning and by a commitment to communication, cooperation and coordination among all agencies at the incident scene. Attainment of this goal will result in faster and safer incident removal, and will enhance the safety and mobility of the Kansas City transportation system. B-16

Spring 2002 Incident management involves the systematic use of human and mechanical processes. The primary goals of the Kansas City Incident Management Program, in addition to saving lives and property, is to minimize the effects of such incidents on traffic congestion and reduce the possibility of secondary incidents. This can be accomplished by the following: • Reducing the time spent for incident detection and verification. • Reducing response time by the appropriate agency. • Reducing the time spent to clear the incident from the roadway. • Improve accessibility for emergency response vehicle. • Providing accurate and timely information to the public in order to divert traffic from the incident. • Provide incident impact information to motorists in a timely manner so that they can change their trip plans and avoid delays. • Reduce the probability of secondary incidents. • Improve travel time reliability. • Maintain peak period capacity of strategic transportation corridors. • Reduce motorist delay No single agency can be effective and able to respond and clear a major traffic incident. Often an incident is followed by a sudden, temporary decrease in road capacity, which results in traffic queues, reducing speeds and increased travel times, which potentially result in additional secondary accidents. The queue and the vehicle-hours of delay will continue to build until the incident is cleared and traffic flow is restored. It has been estimated that 57% of the nations traffic congestion is due to crashes and other incidents, amounting to 24.5 billion vehicle-hours of delay in the year 1997 in the 68 areas studied by the Texas Transportation Institute for their 1999 Urban Nobility Report. Between 10% and 20% of all incidents are caused by pre-existing conditions. In 1995, 10,200 police cars, 1,800 fire vehicles, and 2,900 ambulances were, themselves, involved in motor vehicle crashes. With this type of impact on the health and well being of the nation and it citizens; a mandate exists in many areas to mitigate, to the extent possible, the impacts on American roads. In 1997, nearly 40% of all police who died in the line of duty died in traffic incidents. In the year 1998, there were 143 fatalities in the United States involving emergency vehicles, 77 of which occurred when the vehicle was responding to an emergency. As urban and suburban development continues to increase, the resulting travel demand will place an increased strain on an already congested freeway. B-17

Spring 2002 An incident that causes delay on a freeway can be as simple as a disabled vehicle in the traffic lane or on the shoulder. It can be a lost piece of lumber from a truck that causes motorists to change lanes suddenly. Such minor incidents, if detected promptly, can be cleared rapidly with little residual effect on peak use traffic. Incidents are particularly disruptive when a roadway is operating to near capacity. The focus on improving traffic has changed from increasing the size of the freeway to improving its efficiency. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has translated the average 20- minute blocking into a monetary figure to show how freeway incidents directly affect the national economy. If one lane of a three-lane freeway is blocked for 20 minutes – assuming the freeway is running at capacity – the delay caused to motorist will exceed 1,210 vehicle-hours. At the FHWA assigned value of $4.00 per hour for each vehicle hour of delay, the cost of the incident due to delay is approximately $5,000. A delivery truck, delayed because of a stalled vehicle or flat tire up ahead can cost an employer an estimated $60 per hour. Multiply this by millions of times per year and the staggering cost of roadway incidents becomes clear. FACTS AND FIGURES ON INCIDENT MANAGEMENT Listed below are some facts and figures on incident management programs from other locations in the United States; they show loss in vehicle hours of delay, economic and other interesting issues pertaining to incident management: ATLANTA, GA (GDOT Navigation System): • Average time to verify incidents was reduced from 4.2 minutes to 1.1 minutes during the first 3 weeks of operation. • Average time to generate an automated incident response after incident verification reduced from 40.5 minutes to 4.7 minutes during first 3 weeks of operation. • Mean time between incident verification and clearance of travel lanes reduced from 6.25 hours to 1.5 hours during first 3 weeks of operation. B-18

Spring 2002 BROOKLYN, NY (Gowanus Expressway/Prospect Expressway Rehabilitation) (Incident Detection System): • BEFORE – average time to clear any type of incident – 90 minutes. • AFTER – average time to clear any time of incident – 31 minutes (68% decrease). CONNECTICUT: • A 1990 report indicated that an incident management system involving 80 miles of roadways in the Fairfield region would produce an annual savings of 2.38 billion vehicle hours of delay and reduce fuel consumption by 1.43 million gallons in fuel savings. CALIFORNIA DOT (Caltrans): • Each minute of blockage results in 5 minutes congestion. HOUSTON, TX (TransStar System): • Annual delay savings of 572,095 vehicle-hours with an economic value of $8.4 million. MINNESOTA (Minnesota Highway Helper Program): • Duration of stalled vehicles reduced by 8 minutes. • Annual delay savings due to reduced delay assessed $1.4 billion per year (Program costs $600,000 per year to operate). • 13% of all peak period incidents were a direct result of a previous incident. PHILADELPHIA’S TRAFFIC & INCIDENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (TIM): • Decreased freeway incidents by 409%. • Reduced freeway closure time by 55%. SAN ANTONIO, TX (TransGuide Traffic Management Program): • Total accidents reduced by 30% • Total accidents reduced by 40% during inclement weather. • Overall accident rates reduced 41%. • Significant improvements in drivers confidence. B-19

Spring 2002 • Average response time reduced by 20%. • Average delay savings per incident – 700 vehicle hours. • Average reduction in fuel consumption per incident – 2,600 gallons. • Benefit translates to annual savings of $1.65 million. SAN FRANCISCO, CA (CA Freeway Service Patrol): • Assisted more than 90,000 drivers as of January, 1997. • Hydrocarbon emissions reduced by 32 kg/day. • Carbon Monoxide (CO) emissions reduced by 322 kg/day. • Nitrous Oxides (Nox) emissions reduced by 798 kg/day. WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: • Over a 7-year period, 2,165 shoulder collisions had occurred on the freeway system. These collisions caused 40 deaths and 1,774 injuries. Injury rates for shoulder collisions were substantially higher than the rates for all other accident categories. It showed that 40% of all other shoulder collisions involved injuries. • 80% of incidents were reported by cell phone calls from motorist, - - police, DOT’s, Motor Assist, detected an additional 18%. The Traffic Operations Center staff detected a scant 2%. Multiple cell phone calls for the same incident were normal, with operators reporting up to 80 multiple calls per major incident. The multiple calls do, however, serve a purpose since dispatchers need to speak to several callers to accurately report the location, direction of travel, and other aspects of the incidents. These statistics highlight the need for effective incident management, which is a pre-planned and coordinated program to detect and remove incidents and restore freeway traffic as soon as possible. But the greatest benefits of an effective incident management program are achieved through the reduction of the incident duration. Reducing the duration of an incident is fostered by: • Reducing the time to detect incident. Enhanced technologies for incident detection on freeways have reduced response times and brought opportunities for reducing the duration and intensity of the impact on traffic. The potential for disruption of traffic can be B-20

Spring 2002 measured by times and delays from the time the incident occurs until it is cleared. • Initiation of an expedient and appropriate response. The speed and effectiveness of clearance activities may depend on the appropriateness of resources dispatched; were the right equipment and personnel dispatched in a timely manner or were extraneous resources sent to further congest the scene and perhaps delay response to other incidents. Creating and maintaining effective, trust-based working relationships among a multitude of individuals and organizations involved in traffic management change will be challenging. The typical objective of multi- agency incident management includes emphasis on the importance of incident response from each agency. Key to high success is a higher level of inter- agency coordination, particularly among state and local law enforcement agencies, fire department, tow trucks, city, state and local DOT’s and public works departments as well as HazMat clean up companies. • Although the priorities of emergency response must focus on protection of life and property, failure to maintain safe and efficient traffic operations not only can increase delay costs associated with incidents, but also can generate additional incidents, multiplying the individual and social costs of such events. Once the incident is cleared, traffic will flood through the incident site until the queue is dissipated, but the getaway flow is limited by the maximum capacity of the highway. On a congested urban highway, an incident can dam up a high reservoir of vehicles and it may take an hour or more to dissipate the accumulated traffic. Traveling in or around urban areas during a peak-use period is irritating at best, but it can be down right miserable when an incident further impedes the traffic flow. As far back as the 1950’s the disruptive potential of incidents on freeways was recognized and steps were taken to detect incidents and provide information to motorists. In the top ten most congested urban areas in 1998, the amount of incident-related congestion delay ranged from 218,000 to 1,295,000- person hours. Freeway congestion due to the occurrence of incidents is a major cause of traffic delays in the United States and around the world. Traffic congestion continues to increase in the United States, particularly in metropolitan areas. It is no longer feasible to build new roads or to increase the capacity of existing roads in an attempt to significantly B-21

Spring 2002 improve the situation. This congestion was once a downtown issue; congestion is now a metropolitan concern. Congestion is a symptom of travel boom that has occurred in cities and metropolitan areas and reflects underlying structural change in population, employment and automobile use. Congestion is no longer limited to highways near downtown; it has spread over the roads that were once the bypass routes for the congested routes. It is no longer a short peak-period, it has become a problem spreading over 4, 6 or even 8 hours per day. Metropolitan congestion is creating sticky rides on the nations highway system, and is impeding the flow of regional and interstate freight as well as local freight. Congestion is a symptom of travel boom that has occurred in cities and metropolitan areas and reflects underlying structural change in population, employment, and automobile use. Incident Management systems include an array of strategies to improve incident detection/verification, response time and motorist information. Accidents themselves account for only 10% of reported incidents. In 10% to 60% of all accidents, drivers are able to move their vehicles to the shoulder. Each such incident costs an average of 45-60 minutes. In congested traffic they can trigger 500-1,000 vehicle-hours of delay per incident. The congestion impact of these minor incidents is substantial because the presence of a police car, tow truck, ambulance or fire truck will cause passing motorists to slow down and gawk, even if the vehicles involved in the incident are well off the highway. Emergency maintenance work, debris on the road, wandering pedestrians, stray animals and other events account for the remaining incidents. Updated information on impacts of freeway incidents on roadway capacity as reported in the 1996 Traffic Control Systems Handbook shows the freeway is actually reduced by an amount far greater than the physical reduction in roadway space caused by the incident. The primary considerations related to incidents include vehicle delay to motorists and the safety of motorists and emergency response crews. In summary, the vast majority of incidents are vehicle disablements and minor accidents. During off-peak periods when traffic volumes are low, these incidents have little or no impact on freeway traffic. But when traffic volumes are high, their cumulative effect is substantial. Police and tow trucks can clear these incidents rapidly and efficiently if all agencies give this work high priority. Incident congestion can be reduced considerably by assigning a high priority to the detection and clearance of minor incidents. The severity of the impact of an incident varies, depending on the nature of the incident, where it takes place, and when it occurs. A major incident may result in total blockage of a freeway, while a minor incident, such as a flat tire, may be merely a momentary distraction. An incident can have widespread effects. An incident may impact both directions of travel, even on a divided B-22

Spring 2002 facility such as a freeway, because motorists often slow down to look at an accident in the opposite direction. An incident may also affect other facilities, as congestion spills over onto adjacent arterial streets. Safety Incidents not only result in delay, they also compromise the safety of both emergency responders and motorists. In addition to hazards at the incident scene, emergency responders traveling to other emergencies or EMS vehicles transporting sick or injured to medical facilities are also at risk of incidents. A successful incident management program addresses these issues. Alerting motorists of incident conditions can enhance the safety of emergency responders. Providing motorists with current, accurate information accomplishes a number of things: it reduces driver frustration, warns drivers to exercise greater caution when driving by the incident scene, and encourages motorists to divert to alternate routes. Motorist’s information can be provided using commercial traffic reports, the Missouri Department of Transportation’s highway advisory radio and variable message signs. Reducing the time required to clear the incident also enhances the safety of emergency responders. Cooperation, coordination and pre- planning can speed incident removal and increase safety by limiting the amount of time that personnel are exposed to the traffic and other dangers at the site. Faster incident response and removal also enhances safety for motorists. The secondary accident rate (the likelihood of a second accident when the roadway is congested following the initial incident) is much higher than typical accident rates. Some studies have found secondary accident rates to be as high as six times normal accident rates. Quickly clearing an incident not only saves time, but it also increases safety by reducing motorists’ exposure to secondary accidents. INCIDENT RESPONSE One of the main issues that had to be resolved in an incident management program was the line of responsibility for managing an incident. Since one agency cannot take the lead and direct other B-23

Spring 2002 agencies, it was decided that all parties would have to work together. With this in mind, the Kansas City Incident Management Plan has worked toward these goals: • to develop better coordination among organizations. • to be come familiar with each organization’s resources and personnel. • over a period to develop standard operating procedures that would ensure that the groups work together to make suggestions for additional training that would augment the current incident management capabilities. • create and maintain effective, trust-based relationships among a multitude of individuals and organizations involved in incident management. The time required to respond to an incident is measured from the moment of detection until assistance arrived at the site. This time can vary significantly depending on such factors as: • the nature of the incident relative to the resource necessary for clearance (location, type and severity). • The location and availability of the assistance resources. • The traffic conditions encountered enroute to the incidents. • The handling of traffic relative to available capacity ramp control, detours, motorist information. The time taken to restore the road to full capacity is the clearance time. This time starts when the response unit reaches the incident and ends on departure. Activities that occur during the clearance time include: • First aid and removal of injured. • Accident investigation. • Fire control. • Vehicle removal and debris clean up. • Placement and removal of traffic control. Once an incident has been detected, response depends on recognizing the factors that affect response and removal of the incident and knowing the steps and resources that are needed to return the facility to normal conditions. These steps may include requesting assistance or services from other agencies, requesting special equipment and/or personnel, and implementing traffic control plans. B-24

Spring 2002 The accurate identification of equipment and personnel needed at an incident site significantly decreases the time required to clear the incident. Proper identification of needs at an incident site is more of a function of training and knowledge of the available resources than a function of technology. One goal of the Incident Management Program is to provide a reference for available resources and to lay a foundation for the knowledge and training required. Because incidents can be cleared using many different techniques and pieces of equipment, persons whom initially respond to (or investigate) an incident must have adequate training to select the most appropriate response. They must be able to judge the magnitude and scope of the problem and know the resources that are available for responding to that type of incident, at that time, at that location. Although this manual and this program are an important part of an incident management system, successful incident management is not limited to a single action or program. Instead, successful incident management is a combination of actions that allow the responding agencies to tailor the response to the conditions and the resources available. The most successful management systems provide a range of response actions that offer both quick response and strong clearance capabilities. The notification of an incident on a freeway is often generated by numerous phone calls, typically mobile cellular telephones calls. The dispatchers will then contact the appropriate emergency response facilities (e.g., police, fire, EMS, etc.). If emergency response vehicles are not present at the facility the dispatcher will directly contact the vehicle. Effective incident response begins as soon as an incident has occurred. Decreasing the time required detecting the incident and notifying the first responder is the first step. Decreasing the time required for personnel and equipment to reach the site is the second step. Decreasing the detection and response time decreases the total time required to clear an incident, which in turn decreases both the personnel cost associated with incident management, as well as the cost to motorists due to incident related delay. Incidents critically hurt the operational efficiency of the transportation network and put all users of the network at risk. The severity of secondary crashes is also often greater than the original incident. INDIVIDUAL ROLES IN INCIDENT MANAGEMENT The object of any search and rescue response always has been to locate victims, reduce pain and suffering, and prevent recurrence to the greatest extent possible. This must be accomplished efficiently, effectively, and economically. Efficiently is doing things right - - using well-trained resources. B-25

Spring 2002 Effectiveness is doing the right things right - - combining well-trained rescues with good strategy and tactics. But, what pulls all this together and makes it run smoothly and therefore economically is good management. Management through a well-planned stature and organization. Incident responders must be prepared for a variety of emergency situations. Because there are a lot of activities at the incident scene, it is very important that all participants have an understanding and appreciation for responsibilities and priorities of other agencies at the scene. For example, many responders already have fundamental emergency medical skills such as basic First Aid and CPR; similarly, many responders have learned the importance of moving disabled vehicles. It is also valuable if the majority of responders are knowledgeable in rudimentary traffic control strategies, because traffic control is a major responsibility. In order to provide an appreciation for the activities and responsibilities of other agencies at the incident scene, the following explanation of agency priorities and activities is provided. ? ? THE TOP PRIORITY OF HIGHWAY AGENCIES IS TO CLEAR THE INCIDENT AND OPEN THE HIGHWAY TO NORMAL TRAFFIC FLOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Highway agencies tend to stress restoring the facility to maximum capacity as quickly as possible while ensuring the safety of personnel. Restoring traffic flow and cleaning up the incident site is their responsibility and other agencies need to recognize the importance of this job. To accomplish this quickly and safely, cooperation between all agencies at the incident site is needed. LAW ENFORCMENT: Law enforcement services often are provided by a number of organizations, including Highway Patrol, County Sheriff, and local police. Typical incident management roles and responsibilities assumed by law enforcement include: • As peace officers, they bring the ability to control the scene activities and to arrest and remove violators who hamper emergency operations. • Assist in incident detection. • Secure incident scene, bystander and crowd control, perimeter establishments and enforcement. • Accident investigation, and crime scene management. • Provide emergency medical aid until EMS arrives. B-26

Spring 2002 • Traffic control – In order for traffic to move smoothly and safely past the incident; traffic control needs to be established at the scene. If lanes or roadway will be closed, traffic needs to be channelized to merge into lanes or shoulder that will remain open. • Conduct accident investigation. • Safeguard personal property. • Clearance of scene. • Meet with media. FIRE AND RESCUE: Fire & rescue services are provided by local fire department, and by surrounding fire departments through mutual aid agreements. Incident management roles and responsibilities typically assigned by fire departments are: • Protect incident scene. • Provide traffic control until police or DOT arrives. • Provide emergency medical care until EMS arrives. • Provide HazMat response and containment. • Fire suppression. • Crash victim rescue from wrecked vehicle. • Assist in incident clearance. EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE: EMS primary responsibilities are: • Triage • Provide advanced emergency medical care. • Determine destination and transportation. • Coordinate evacuation with fire, police, ambulance or airlift. • EMS personnel are almost never utilized for other than medical activities. MOTORIST ASSIST: Motorist assist patrols assist in the following ways: • Accident clearance. • Determine roadway repair needs. • Assist disabled motorists. • Coordinate response efforts with other agencies. • They may also provide traffic control. B-27

Spring 2002 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (DOT’s): They are typically responsible for: • Assisting in incident detection and verification. • Protect accident scene. • Provide traffic Control. • Determine incident clearance and roadway repairs needed. • Implement (when necessary) detour routes. TOWING SERVICE: Professional tow services are often the experts: • On how to unstack wrecked or overturned vehicles. • They also provide recovery services for large truck accidents. MEDIA: The broadcast media typically: • Report traffic accidents. • Broadcast delays in traffic. • Provide alternate route information. • If the incident is particularly severe, update incident status frequently. • The appropriate authority handles news-making events, warnings, rumor control items and alerts. When agencies with a wide range of priorities are all present at one location and trying to conduct activities to meet their responsibilities, it may lead to tension and conflict unless all participating groups understand and appreciate the needs of the other agencies. It is very important that people responding to an incident understand the needs of other agencies and those actions are coordinated to meet as many goals as possible. Safety of personnel at an incident site is the foremost responsibility of each responding agency. HAVING PROVIDED FOR THE SAFETY OF THE VICTIMS AND RESPONDENTS, IT IS IMPORTANT TO CLEAR THE ROADWAY AND RESTORE TRAFFIC TO NORMAL AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. B-28

Spring 2002 No consistent standard has been identified that can be uniformly applied to evaluate the quantifiable benefits of an effective incident management program. In any case quantifiable benefits generally associated with an effective incident management program include: • Increased survival rate of crash victims. • Reduced delays. • Improved response time. • Improved air quality. • Reduced occurrence of secondary accidents. • Improve safety of responders, crash victims and other motorists. Just as with quantifiable benefits, no consistent standard has been identified that can be uniformly applied to evaluate qualitative benefits of an effective incident management program. Qualitative benefits generally associated with an effective incident management program include: • Improved public perception of agency operations. • Reduced driver frustration. • Improved quality of life. • Improved coordination and cooperation of response agencies. B-29

Wilbur Smith Associates Metroplan Incident Management Study Study Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate and evaluate current practice in response to vehicular incidents within the Central Arkansas Regional Transportation Study (CARTS) area on interstate freeways as well as the priority corridors of the Regional Arterial Network (1). The study also examined ways to enhance interagency cooperation and coordination, with respect to vehicular incidents. Work involved the examination of relevant accident and traffic data for incidents over a three-year period, review of related operations and management issues, and review of existing or planned institutional agreements for procedures dealing with incidents. The study concludes with a recommended incident management program suitable for the CARTS area. 1.0 OVERVIEW OF INCIDENT MANAGEMENT Incident Management is the process of managing multiple agencies and jurisdictions that coordinate responses to non-recurring disruptions in traffic, including vehicle accidents, construction zone activities, weather related incidents, and major events. Efficient and well- coordinated incident management practices can reduce vehicle accidents, improve public safety, reduce congestion and driver frustration, and generally improve the operations of an existing transportation system. Additional benefits include reduced vehicle emissions, improved coordination among public works and public safety agencies, as well as better public understanding and support for transportation services and providers. The basic features of an incident management program include consideration of the following elements: 1. Incident Management Planning — Quick response and implementation of traffic control strategies requires advance planning of detour routes, control strategies, alternative signal timing plans and other pre-planned measures. This is in addition to the normal advance planning and training measures that each component in the Incident Management Team must employ to execute their responsibilities. 2 . Incident Detection — receipt of information by monitoring and response mechanisms at an incident management agency to suggest that an incident has occurred. Many forms of detection can be used, including: roaming service patrols, personal cell phone call-ins, closed circuit television reviewed by operators or detection software, and aerial surveillance by agency and traffic reporting services. Less labor-intensive detection measures include automated remote traffic speed and density detection coupled with abnormality detection software. 3. Incident Verification — confirmation and refinement of information on location and nature of incident sufficient to form and execute a first response plan. With the more advanced detection measures, verification and detection are accomplished almost simultaneously. If automated detection measures are used, then some type of visual confirmation, of the types listed above, is needed to be able to mobilize the correct incident response crews. Citizen call-ins may require verification from a second source before full B-30

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates response deployment. In simpler systems, a highway patrol or police unit is diverted to access the scene and initiate response. 4. Incident Response — activation of initial emergency response to the scene and dispatch of ensuing support response. Communication links and chain of command are established in response to the type of incident and the agencies involved. Information is generated for conveyance to motorists and the media. 5. Motorist Information — getting information to motorists regarding the location and impact of the incident, as well as possible alternative routes as soon as possible with follow-up as conditions change. Dissemination means include commercial radio and television special bulletins, highway advisory radio (HAR) stations, dynamic message signs (DMS), internet or on-line services such as a traffic web page or personal data assistant, and route guidance services such as Navistar or the new 511 Traveler Information Systems. 6 . Incident Site Management — control and security of the incident scene, effectively coordinating and managing on-scene resources. The safety of response personnel as well as the incident victims and/or workers and the control of debris and effluent are the predominant concerns. Very often, the quality of traffic flow is the least of the concerns of response personnel as priorities are established on the scene. Most areas that are served by a 911 system have established a hierarchy of incident site control and some standard procedures for interagency communications. The effectiveness of the interagency communications and the incident handling on site can have a significant impact on the duration of traffic impacts. 7 . Traffic Management — measures for emergency access and general traffic control. These efforts include: closing lanes needed for safety and staging of response vehicles, local or remote special operations of traffic control signals and other devices, and designating and operating alternative routes. Much of the effectiveness of traffic control is pre-destined in the advance planning stages, as described above. 8. Incident Clearance — removal of the incident and residue out of the flow of traffic to bring the return to workable traffic flows and eventually normal traffic conditions. At times, this may include temporary or permanent repair to roadway infrastructure. Reduction in the time to accomplish most of these elements can contribute to ability to save lives and can contribute to reduction in delay time and frustration for many of the thousands of vehicles that experience delay due to accidents each year. The nature of traffic incidents in the region and how agencies currently respond to such incidents will govern the magnitude of improvements that are possible. 1.1 Definition of Traffic Incident Vehicle accidents (more accurately called vehicle crashes) are the most commonly envisioned traffic incident causing major traffic delay. However, there are many other types of traffic incidents , generally defined as unexpected happenings or objects on or near the roadway that impact motorists travel. Roadway construction and maintenance activities can contribute to incidents, especially when lanes are constrained or reduced. Special events, which generate unusually large amounts of vehicle and/or pedestrian traffic, can also lead to roadway incidents due to temporary over-capacity of the roadway system. For its potential to delay traffic, a vehicle stopped on the side of the road also can contribute to traffic incidents. In addition, B-31

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates adverse weather conditions lead to incidents, which may or may not always involve vehicle crashes. Road debris, especially when in the travel lanes, also can impact traffic flow and may cause additional incidents. Nationwide it is estimated that traffic incidents account for over 50% of travel delay on the highway system. This percentage is expected to rise to 70% by the year 2005. (2) (3) A well-planned incident management program can address the wide variety of incidents that are contributing to rapid increases in traffic congestion. These actions can, in turn, increase the safety of the traveling public. 1.2 Travel Delay Due to Congestion As part of its Congestion Management System, Metroplan has developed a methodology of categorizing levels of congestion on major arterials and highways using the delay rate (minutes per mile). The delay rate is defined as: the difference in time to travel the length at the posted speed limit without stopping and the actual travel time, divided by the length of the roadway segment. The delay rate is based on time, not volume, thus the factors which effect capacity are included in the delay rate. Thus, because these adjustments are included, the delay rates of two facilities, regardless of geometric design or functional classification, can be compared. A facility can also be compared with itself as a measure of effectiveness of congestion mitigation strategies. Metroplan has determined that the delay rate will be the quantitative value on which CARTS roadway congestion will be measured. For roadway facilities in the CARTS area, a roadway shall be considered to be congested if the delay rate is equal to or greater than 0.41 minutes per mile (min/mi). This delay threshold is derived from the difference in travel times for 55 mph and 40 mph, which is the congestion threshold for an urban freeway. The 40 mph travel speed has been determined to be this threshold for three reasons. First, it is the boundary between levels-of-service E and F (with F being associated with a congested facility) for 2-lane roads in rolling terrain, which comprises the majority of lane miles of pavement within the CARTS area; second, it is the boundary between levels-of-service E and F for ramp-freeway junctions, the primary location of congestion on freeways; third, it is the speed at which many motorists perceive congestion, as it is the speed at which a 5-speed transmission must be downshifted from fifth to fourth gear. Table 1 lists the congested delay rates and equivalent average operating speeds for posted ( ideal ) speeds. Table 1. Delay Rate and Average Speed Thresholds for Congestion "Ideal" Speed (mph) "Ideal" travel time (min/mi) "Congested" travel time (min/mi) "Congested" speed (mph) (A) (B=60/A) (C=B+0.41) (D=60/C) 70 0.86 1.27 47 65 0.92 1.33 45 60 1.00 1.41 43 55 1.09 1.50 40 50 1.20 1.61 37 45 1.33 1.74 34 40 1.50 1.91 31 35 1.71 2.12 28 30 2.00 2.41 25 Source: Adapted from Congestion Management Study, Metroplan, 1996. B-32

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates It is important to note that facilities that have a high volume to capacity ratio may not necessarily surpass the congestion threshold, and vice versa. Low volume facilities may be congested due to excessive turning movements, a proliferation of access points, excessive signal cycle lengths, poor signal coordination, and/or poor signal phasing. The field speed observations are not valid if there is an incident causing congestion during observations, so the congestion levels recorded represent the degradation of traffic flow primarily due to traffic volumes and lane changing activity. The levels of congestion are defined approximately as follows: • None — operating speed at or in excess of posted speed limit • Acceptable — delay rates between 0 and 0.24 minutes per mile • Borderline — delay rate between 0.24 and 0.41minutes per mile • Mild — delay rate between 0.41 and 0.62 minutes per mile • Moderate - delay rate between 0.62 and 0.91minutes per mile • Serious - delay rate between 0.91 and 1.91 minutes per mile • Severe - delay rate between 1.91 and 4.91 minutes per mile • Extreme — delay rate over 4.91 minutes per mile The 2000 congestion levels for the CARTS area are incorporated as a background layer in Figure 2 that displays the high accident frequency locations in the study area. The normal congestion levels were compared to high accident frequency locations to examine the relationship between congestion and accident levels. Obviously, segments of roadway with serious to extreme delay when no incidents are present could produce significant vehicular delay when an incident occurs. These roadway segments should receive priority for implementation of incident management treatments. 1.3 Traffic Incident Impact on Travel Delay As the volume of traffic on a roadway segment approaches the capacity of the roadway to move the traffic, traffic speeds and related Level of Service of the facility gradually decrease. According to the Highway Capacity Manual (4), the flow at capacity of an uninterrupted multilane highway is between 1,900 and 2,200 passenger cars per hour per lane (pcphpl). For interrupted flow (signalized roadways), the flow rate would be per hour of green time for each through movement. Typical of a multilane highway, at a level of traffic density greater than the volume to capacity ratio (v/c) of about 0.4, speeds are reduced by about 5 percent for every 0.1 increase in v/c. As the level of traffic density approaches a v/c of about 0.85, speeds drop dramatically and delays become significant. The significance of the v/c ratio and delay relationship for incident management lies in the relative impact of capacity losses due to an incident. The amount of delay time incurred by motorists when traffic incidents occur depends on the number of lanes (capacity) lost to the incident and the volumes of traffic on that section of roadway containing the incident. For roadways that normally operate at or near capacity during peak travel periods and experience moderate or worse congestion, reductions in capacity typically result in immediate over-capacity conditions resulting in significant delay to vehicles and their occupants. For example, if the capacity of a six-lane freeway was 6,000 passenger cars per hour (pcph) in each direction and there were 4,000 cars going in one direction, then the volume-to-capacity B-33

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates ratio (v/c) for that direction of travel would be 0.67, and cars normally going 60 MPH would be expected to average between 50 and 55 MPH. If an incident occurred which took up one travel lane in that direction, then the capacity would be reduced to between 3,000 and 3,500 pcph, and the v/c would increase to between 1.14 and 1.33. Under those conditions, average travel speeds would be expected to reduce to about 10 MPH or less due to overcapacity conditions and rubbernecking . Thus, the prompt clearing of a travel lane can significantly reduce travel delay. Additionally, the presence of an accident and the abrupt slowing of vehicles upstream can also contribute to secondary traffic crashes due to inattentive or impatient drivers, and other potential incidents such as mechanical breakdowns and overheating that can further delay traffic. 1.4 Benefits of Incident Management Incident management programs can yield significant benefits to motorists. The Freeway Service Patrol instituted in San Francisco is credited with reducing nitrogen oxide emissions by 798 kg/day in addition to assisting more than 90,000 drivers (as of January 1997). In San Antonio, Texas, the incident management program contributed to a nearly 35% reduction in vehicle crashes and a significant (20%) reduction in response time to accidents. The average time between incident verification and clearance of traffic lanes in Atlanta was reduced from 6.25 hours to 1.5 hours with their incident management program. In Maryland, the CHART program is estimated to have produced a non-recurrent delay savings in excess of 2 million vehicle hours per year. These are but a few of the positive results recorded around the country as incident management programs have been developed and implemented. Incident management programs were initially developed in the largest metropolitan areas with the most serious traffic congestion problems. However, the benefits to medium and small cities, as well as rural areas are now uniformly recognized. State Departments of Transportation are now expanding incident management programs and policies on a statewide basis. Most Transportation Management Areas (TMAs) (populations over 200,000) have developed or are considering developing incident management improvements. While some highly sophisticated Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) may be either inappropriate or not practical for all locations, there are a wide variety of economical incident management tools and strategies that can be implemented in most areas. 1.5 Costs of Congestion Caused by Incidents There are obvious personal and economic values in preventing accidents. There are also costs associated with the traffic congestion caused by crashes and other roadway incidents. These costs include: the personal value of time lost, and the potential of traffic congestion to cause additional crashes. Thus, there is economic value in doing a better job to clear the crash scene, maintain optimal event traffic flow, and then reestablish normal traffic flow. Lost Time (Delay) — Estimates of the personal value of lost time (delay) to the traveling public used in value analyses range from about $4.00 per hour to over $10.00 per hour (5). For the purposes of this study, a value of $7.50 per hour is used as the personal value of time lost due to traffic delay. Thus, every minute of delay incurred is worth about 12.5¢ per person. As a typical value of the cost of delay time, if one vehicle is reduced in speed from 60 MPH to 3 MPH B-34

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates (stop and go) for a distance of one mile, then that one vehicle has incurred about 19 minutes of delay. Assuming an average occupancy rate of 1.1 persons per vehicle, the 19 minutes of delay to one vehicle results in $2.61 worth of personal time lost per vehicle. If this incident occurs during a busy travel time and some 4,000 vehicles per hour incur that 19 minutes of delay over the course of two hours, then the incident has cost the traveling public a total of $20,900 in personal delay. With over 2,000 reported motor vehicle crashes each year on the freeways and on the RAN in the CARTS area, and if only half of these crashes result in one mile backups for 2 hours, the value of the lost time due to incidents in the CARTS area could be well over $20 Million. This value does not include crashes on non-RAN streets nor non-crash incidents, such as spilled cargo and disabled vehicles. If the incidents could have been detected, responded to and cleared quicker, significant personal time-loss savings could have occurred. Induced Crashes — The presence of slowed traffic ahead of traffic traveling at normal roadway speeds presents the probability of additional roadway incidents. The relative probability of such an occurrence upstream of any crash scene is dependent upon visibility and the relative speeds. The costs of such induced crashes include not only the additional traffic delay time, but also the additional incident response costs. Advance notification by the use of dynamic message signs (DMS) to tell motorists to slow down and watch for the incident could significantly reduce the occurrence of induced crashes. 1.6 Multiple Agency Involvement and Coordination A central theme of all effective incident management programs is the close coordination of the myriad of agencies that provide services in the event of a traffic incident. These include state and local transportation agencies, metropolitan planning organization (MPO), state and local law enforcement agencies, fire and rescue agencies, towing and recovery companies, as well as public and private traveler information providers. These agencies all have different missions and methods of operation. An effective incident management program will bring these agencies together to work cooperatively toward a range of common goals and objectives. 2.0 CURRENT INCIDENT MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES IN THE CARTS AREA As in most metropolitan areas, a number of state and local agencies are closely involved with incident management. The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD) owns and operates the freeway system and many major arterial roadways. The Arkansas State Police have primary responsibility for enforcement and accident investigation on this system. They are assisted by local police agencies and fire and rescue agencies depending on location. The Arkansas Highway Police, a division of the AHTD, have primary responsibility for motor carrier enforcement, including truck size and weight, safety, and hazardous materials inspection. Local agencies include police departments from the Cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock, as well as the suburban communities of Conway, Cabot, Bryant, Benton, Sherwood, Jacksonville, and Maumelle. Also involved are the sheriff s departments of Pulaski, Faulkner, Saline, and Lonoke counties as well as local fire, and rescue organizations. Towing and recovery services are provided by local private companies. All of these organizations are members of the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Task Force for Metroplan, the metropolitan planning organization for the CARTS area. B-35

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates 2.1 Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department AHTD is currently in the process of developing a statewide strategic plan for ITS. The early focus of this project is concentrated on ITS strategies that can be deployed in construction zones and coincides with a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation program for the Interstate system. The strategic plan will also include an incident management component which has not yet been clearly defined. AHTD has already implemented three ITS systems in conjunction with work zones with varied success. Vehicle queue detectors linked to DMS and highway advisory radios (HAR) were deployed as part of an interstate reconstruction project in the West Memphis area, in order to give real time delay information to the motorists and media. A slightly different system (ADAPTIR) was implemented on an I-40 reconstruction project in Carlisle. While both systems achieved less than perfect results, it was deemed that positive benefits could result with upgrading and refinement. AHTD also began its first Motorist Assistance Patrol (MAP) in the West Memphis area on Interstates 40 and 55. After this program received a positive public response, the MAP was instituted in May 2001 in the CARTS area primarily in freeway work zones. The MAP is operated out of the AHTD District 6 office and is presently composed of three vehicles operating on I-30, I-40, I-630, I-430, and I-440 in the urbanized area. It is AHTD s intention to provide some coverage of both US 67/167 and I-530, from I-30 to Dixon Road. This expansion as well as the existing coverage will depend upon personnel and funding limitations. The original intent was to start in the areas with the most work zones, and expand beyond that as they can. MAP drivers assist motorists with minor mechanical difficulties, fuel, notifying wreckers, and some vehicles are capable of pushing a vehicle to the side of the road. No towing services are provided. Between inception of the MAP in May 2001 and August 19, 2001, the patrol came to the aid of over 1300 motorists. The single largest category of assistance was for flat tires. As in West Memphis, the CARTS area MAP has proven to be very popular with the traveling public. A more detailed evaluation of the effectiveness of the program has not yet been undertaken. 2.2 Arkansas State Police The Arkansas State Police have primary jurisdiction on the state highway system for traffic law enforcement, including managing the scene of accidents. State Police officers generally direct activities at the incident scene and determine if assistance is needed from other law enforcement agencies, emergency response providers or the AHTD. The State Police maintain a rotation list of qualified towing and wrecker services they utilize for clearance of accident scenes and removal of disabled vehicles. Firms secure a spot on the rotation list if they have adequate equipment available within a certain distance. However, the current procedures do not specify a minimum response time or schedule of fees. A more detailed proposed policy for use of towing and wrecker services is now under consideration by the State Police. State Police Public Information Officers handle contacts with the media to get information out to the traveling public regarding incidents. B-36

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates 2.3 Emergency Medical Services Centers Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Centers in Little Rock and North Little Rock receive 911 calls and dispatch emergency services personnel appropriate to the type of incident reported and the location of the incident. The majority of roadway incidents are initially detected and reported to 911 by cellular phone callers. EMS dispatchers can presently locate cellular phone callers only to the nearest cellular tower utilized. However, communications upgrades are being planned that would automatically locate a cellular caller to a much more precise location. EMS dispatchers must now frequently question cellular phone callers to determine a more precise incident location. 2.4 Private Providers In addition to the AHTD Motorist Assistance Patrol (MAP), the Landers car dealership sponsors a service patrol. Landers pays a driver to travel the freeway system in the area during week day peak hour traffic. The driver will offer assistance to disabled vehicles, but will not tow or push vehicles off the main travel lanes. KLOVE Radio Station provides traffic reports between the hours or 7:00 a.m. and 8:40 a.m. as a service to listeners. Skywatch Traffic reports are provided by reporter Mike Willingham, who uses a small fixed wing aircraft, supplemented by vehicles on the ground, to observe traffic conditions, primarily on the freeway system. Mr. Willingham also frequently reports incidents to 911 centers. Skywatch traffic reports may also be carried by other radio stations in the area. Towing and Wrecker services are provided by local firms. Some local agencies utilize the State Police rotation list of firms, while others may contract directly with single providers. No other specific policies were identified for utilizing towing services. Only anecdotal information was available to gage average response times and fees. Many local towing companies are represented by the Arkansas Towing Association. 2.5 Metroplan Metroplan, as the MPO for the CARTS area, is the appropriate forum for discussion and coordination of incident management in this region. Metroplan has established an ITS Task Force representing the full range of incident management players and services, as well as local, state and federal governments. The ITS Task Force represents an ideal home for incident management coordination, with its emphasis on intelligent transportation technologies and broad stakeholder involvement. Metroplan has embarked on an ambitious effort to plan for development of ITS projects in the region. The Task Force has reached preliminary agreement on ITS architecture and will focus on ITS components for incorporation into the region s long-range transportation plan. Incident management is a key component of this effort, and an area that appropriately deserves early attention. B-37

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates 2.6 Other Related Activities Local governments have begun deploying ITS technologies on a very limited basis, primarily in Little Rock and North Little Rock. The City of Little Rock has a small traffic control center, which is responsible for traffic signal systems. Little Rock has begun to synchronize traffic signal systems and has signal preemption available in limited locations. The Traffic Control Center would like to use video surveillance cameras in selected locations, such as major river crossings, and at key intersections not only for incident detection, but also to assist with signal timing and coordination and to replace less reliable inductive loop sensors. 2.7 Traveler Information System In July 2000, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designated 511 as the United States national traveler information telephone number. The FCC ruling leaves nearly all implementation issues and schedules to state and local agencies and communications carriers. In the CARTS area, state and local agencies are looking into statewide and regional development and support of the 511 traveler information system. The 511 system will deliver the information a traveler wants, at the time and location that he or she wants it. The systems will empower travelers to make better decisions, benefiting both the traveler and the transportation network and society at large. The vision of 511 is to serve as the principal audio interface for providing this information to travelers. In an environment of rapidly changing technology and consumer tastes and needs, precisely pinpointing what a mature 511 system is would be nearly impossible. However, key characteristics of successful mature systems will likely include construction/maintenance projects and road closures by location, direction of travel, days/hours of duration, general description of impact, detours and alternative routing advice. Other information may include weather and road surfaced conditions, availability of local public transportation, special events driving and parking directions, and tourist information. 3.0 ISSUES DISCERNED FROM STAKEHOLDER AGENCY INTERVIEWS A combination of meetings and telephone calls were initiated to a broad range of incident management stakeholders including state and local police agencies, emergency medical and fire departments, and highway and transportation agencies. These interviews were valuable in understanding the current incident detection and response procedures, the relationships between involved agencies, as well as identifying new procedures and technologies planned in the near future. The individuals providing information for this study are listed in Appendix A. The following paragraphs present key issues emerging from stakeholder interviews. 3.1 Coordination Issues Nearly all stakeholders pointed to serious coordination and cooperation issues as key to the process of improving incident management in the CARTS area. Participants offered that Metroplan, as the metropolitan planning organization, would be in a uniquely appropriate B-38

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates position to serve as the forum to promote coordination among the agencies of local and state government. Within this context, several participants suggested that AHTD take a leadership role in promoting and funding ITS applications that would lead to better incident management, as well as helping to develop centralized traffic management for the area. Stakeholders consistently supported the need for an on-going incident management team that would meet on a regular basis and serve as the coordinating committee for the various involved agencies. Additionally, commitment and support from local elected officials for this team would be necessary for its successful implementation. 3.2 Communications Issues Police agencies consistently called for improvements in the communications systems they use in the field. Currently, there are a number of different radio systems in use by the various agencies, resulting in the inability of officers to contact each other directly at the scene of an incident. Some state police officers are now carrying cellular phones to alleviate this problem, but the practice is not uniform. Several agencies are in the process of upgrading or considering upgrading their radio systems. More coordination of these upgrades among the agencies would be productive. Participants also pointed to the lack of funding and manpower as a particular problem with radio maintenance. 3.3 Incident Traffic Control Procedures Most participants acknowledged that traffic control procedures for incidents are not governed by uniform guidelines. While each incident may have different traffic control requirements, several stakeholders supported the idea of developing standard procedures that could be tailored to individual circumstances. In rare instances, officers at the scene have been injured or patrol vehicles damaged during the interruption of traffic flow. A more frequent occurrence has been additional vehicle incidents resulting from the initial accident. However, little documentation is currently available for this problem. 3.4 Funding The vast majority of participants from all sectors called for additional funding and manpower for improved incident management. Many stakeholders realize that funds are not likely to be available for large scale capacity improvements to the existing highway system in the region. As a result, the importance of operational improvements in incident management can play a priority role in the reduction of congestion and reduction of vehicle accidents. Participants felt that more funding should be made available for ITS and incident management related technology for this reason. 3.5 Public Information and Education Stakeholders called for education efforts to inform the public of the value of incident management improvements. Such efforts would be crucial in obtaining public and political support for both short and long term incident management projects. A public education program would not only focus on the new technology available, but on explaining how such technological improvements would benefit citizens of the region in every day life. A key focus would also be B-39

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates to educate the public on how better incident management practices can directly relate to their personal safety. The program could also bring about better understanding of the increasingly large role that highway incidents play in the aggravating roadway congestion that motorists frequently experience. 3.6 Technology Stakeholders voiced support for a variety of technological improvements related to incident management, including video camera surveillance at selected locations, dynamic message signing (DMS), highway advisory radio (HAR) and sophisticated communications systems. The majority voiced support for more advanced traveler information systems that would provide real time information to allow motorists to avoid incidents. Several participants also pushed for expanded geographic information systems (GIS) and more widespread traffic signal synchronization. The participants especially supported video camera surveillance for several reasons: • Assistance in incident detection and location, • Aid in determining the type of equipment and personnel that should be sent to a accident scene, and • Providing travel time and incident formation to the motoring public. 3.7 Existing Highway System Several participants indicated that the existing highway infrastructure in the CARTS area was not built to accommodate today s traffic levels. They also advised that certain incident prone locations, such as the major river crossings, deserved special attention for incident management purposes. 3.8 Coordinated Traffic Management A number of stakeholders identified a more regionally coordinated approach to traffic management as a desirable goal for the metropolitan area. Participants called for a range of options spanning the spectrum from more formalized coordination of existing resources to actual consolidation of traffic control, management, and EMS functions under a collective management structure either in one facility or in a number of interconnected and cooperating locations. Several comments were made urging that AHTD could or should take a leadership role in development of centrally coordinated traffic management. There was a general recognition that steps could be taken toward the ultimate goal of a centralized traffic management function by starting with improved coordination and cooperation. Lack of available funding was again mentioned as a major stumbling block in this area. 3.9 Towing/Wrecker Services There was a general consensus among stakeholders that incident clearance could be improved with cooperation of the towing and wrecker industries. While no data was available on the average response and clearance times for towing services, State Police indicated that wreckers usually arrive at the incident scene in between 10 and 60 minutes. There is considerable variability in response times, as well as state and local agency policies with regard B-40

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates to calling for wrecker services. Most participants believed that continuing to rely on private towing and wrecker services would be most appropriate for the region, but that uniform standards or policies would be useful. 3.10 Truck Traffic The CARTS area highways carry a large percentage of heavy truck traffic, particularly on I- 40 and I-30, which are major east-west interstate thoroughfares. The large volume of truck in the traffic mix also contributes to peak hour congestion levels and the number of serious roadway incidents. Several participants recommended that motor carrier operations in the metropolitan area be scrutinized to determine if alternate truck routing should be considered. 3.11 Data Collection A key issue that was discussed by most stakeholders was lack of data to support the decision making process for a better incident management program. In some cases, participants called for simply upgrading of existing data systems and in other cases, advised that additional data collection and development of new data bases would be useful. The need for better and more accurate vehicle crash data was mentioned most frequently. Another high priority data issue was the development of real time traffic information to be used not only by the agencies, but also to be disseminated to the public. 4.0 STRATEGIES FOR ENHANCING INCIDENT MANAGEMENT Selection of appropriate strategies for incident management varies considerably around the country and is highly dependent on the characteristics of the area of implementation. It is important that each area carefully consider operation of transportation infrastructure on the ground, existing institutional structures, availability of funding for both capital and operating expenses, as well as the priority of objectives that the program seeks to address. A variety of available and soon to be available Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) strategies show great promise for improving incident management. These include strategies to provide more timely and accurate incident related information to the traveling public, sophisticated incident detection technologies, such as roadway sensors and video surveillance cameras and integrated communication systems for coordinating response agencies. On the other end of the technological spectrum, the addition or expansion of motorist assist patrols has also been shown to be a highly successful and publicly popular method of reducing incident related congestion and safety problems. However, coordination of key incident response agencies is the critical component of success, regardless of particular suite of technological improvements that are ultimately implemented. 4.1 Lessons from Other Medium Sized Metro Areas Many other small and medium size metropolitan areas around the country have plans or are developing plans to implement incident management strategies. The Greenville Spartanburg area, as described in the following paragraphs, has implemented a number of strategies as part of an overall plan to address non-recurrent traffic incidents. However, many other areas are still in various stages of planning, similar to the CARTS area. While implementation may be lagging, B-41

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates nearly all areas are at least working toward implementation of incident management procedures. Contacts at other MPOs consistently cited the need to move ahead strongly in the direction of more coordinated incident detection, response and clearance. 4.1.1 Greenville-Spartanburg, SC A detailed incident management study was completed for the Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina metropolitan area in 1995. This MSA has a population of approximately 830,000, which is expected to increase to 986,000 by the year 2010. Several Interstate highways pass through the area, including I-85, which can be particularly congested. At the time of the study, only 8 miles of the 44 mile I-85 corridor were 6 lane. (The remainder were scheduled to be widened to 6 lanes in the future.) Annual average daily traffic (AADT) in the I-85 corridor ranged from a low of 36,600 at the far edge of the study area to 71,700 on the most congested segments. Historic trends showed traffic to be increasing on I-85 nearly 10 percent annually. The goals of the incident management program for Greenville-Spartanburg were: • Mitigate congestion on interstates and principal arterials • Create more effective response to incidents by cooperating agencies • Improve safety and minimize environmental impacts • Identify incremental program benefits at each stage of development • Increase visibility to the public of safety and mobility concerns Additionally, an overall goal was to develop a program consistent with advanced traffic management strategies identified for the region. The Greenville-Spartanburg study included a detailed analysis and evaluation of a full range of options for improving the different aspects of incident management. These options were categorized as either short, medium or long range strategies. Short term recommendations focused on strategies to implement a Traffic Management Team, expand and improve motorist assistance patrols, enhancement of local control centers, and initial development of advanced traveler information systems (ATIS). The focus of medium range recommendations was the integration of local projects into a regional system, and further expansion of motorist assistance patrols and other ATIS services. The longer term focus was to provide a full range of advanced traveler information and traffic management and commercial vehicle operations services and to develop links to other regional systems. Priority projects for early implementation in the Greenville-Spartanburg area include: • A widespread public information and education program to help area motorists gain understanding and knowledge of new traveler information that is becoming available and to build support for the overall traffic management program; • The expansion of the motorist assistance patrols, particularly in areas with construction projects; and • The institution of the Traffic Management Team. Also recommended for early deployment were limited freeway surveillance and ATIS in a few specific locations. B-42

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates 4.1.2 Nashville, Tennessee The Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (NAMPO) is actively involved in developing incident management programs to address traffic problems in the metro area of approximately 1.2 million people. The MPO is working closely with the Tennessee DOT to coordinate these efforts. In 1999, freeway courtesy patrols were implemented in the Nashville area by TDOT personnel. The public response to these patrols has been overwhelmingly positive and NAMPO cites this service as a key piece of their strategy to deal with incident related congestion as well as improve public safety. In addition, TDOT is currently constructing a traffic management center (TMC) in the Nashville area and has begun installing video surveillance cameras at selected locations on I-65 north of the city. On the regional level, NAMPO is starting up a coordinating committee for ITS and incident management activities involving all affected agencies and has recently adopted a regional architecture for ITS. Currently, only anecdotal information is available regarding the effectiveness of incident management activities undertaken in Nashville. However, the MPO and Vanderbilt University plan to do evaluation studies to document the benefits of incident management, as well as other ITS activities in the future. 4.1.3 Tulsa, Oklahoma INCOG, the MPO for the Tulsa, Oklahoma area, is actively beginning to plan for incident management initiatives, but has yet to implement any strategies. This metropolitan area of approximately 800,000 people currently has radio and internet-based traffic reporting provided by the private sector. INCOG and OK DOT have contracted with consultants for a study of ITS architecture which will also include a recommended incident management component. This study is expected to be completed in one year. The MPO has also submitted an application for special federal funds which are to be made available to metro areas in need of ITS assistance. INCOG plans to implement a pilot courtesy patrol project when funds are made available. In addition, the MPO staff has received approval to organize an ITS Steering Committee to oversee and advise on ITS and incident management initiatives. The Steering Committee will consider the potential implementation of a variety of incident management strategies and make recommendations to the MPO Policy Committee. 4.2 Accident Analysis Accident history gives an indication of priority areas of focus for development and implementation of a traffic monitoring system as part of the Incident Management program. The accident data for the CARTS area freeways and RAN are annually compiled by the Planning and Research Division of AHTD. Information on key data attributes for years 1997, 1998, and 1999 were provided by AHTD for use in this study. The data fields provided include the following: • Atmospheric conditions; • Road surface conditions; • Whether crash was in a Construction Zone; • Type of traffic control and whether it was functioning; • Intersection type; B-43

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates • Crash date, day of week and time of day; • Route and log-mile of the accident; and • Crash type and whether alcohol was involved. The traffic accidents were analyzed for basic trend analysis to facilitate prioritization of treatments. The three years of data were compiled into an Access database, which is provided on disk accompanying this report. The three years of data were averaged, resulting in an annual average number of traffic accidents that are indicative of the sustained trends and less influenced by a few localized crashes in one year. A graphic representation of the high accident locations for the freeways and RAN in the CARTS area is shown in Figures 1 and 2. A threshold of a minimum of 20 accidents per year in any one-half mile segment was chosen for representation in the two figures for the sake of representing areas of high-accident trends, as there appeared to be a natural break in frequency of occurrence after approximately 15 to 18 accidents per year. A level of 20 accidents per year represents nearly two accidents per month on average. Summaries of accidents by other statistical traits provided further insight into causal factors that indicate higher needs and potential benefits of incident management applications. A summary of the observations from this accident analysis and the possible Incident Management tools that can be applied to address these issues are listed in Table 2. Table 2. Traffic Accident Evaluation and Indications Observation Incident Management Tool The locations with an average of over 20 accidents per year are graphically represented in Figures 1 and 2. The heaviest concentration of accidents in adjacent _ mile segments occurs on I-30 between the I-30/I-440 interchange and the I-30/I-40 interchange, indicating the highest priority area for incident management application. This section of highway also experiences significant levels of congestion during non-incident conditions. • Install video surveillance cameras • 24 hour service patrol on I-30 segment • Alternative peak period routes advertised for all traffic • Alternative truck routes during peak • Preplanned detours by segment • 24 hour crash investigation site(s) • DMS for critical segments Figure 3 is a graphical representation of the variation in accident occurrence by time of day and day of week. Not surprisingly, the occurrence of accidents roughly tracks the volume of vehicles on the roadway. There is a peak of accidents between 6:00 and 9:00 am, then a gradual rising around the lunch hour up to about the morning peak level, then to a significant peak in the afternoon between 4:00 and 7:00 pm. Friday afternoons see the greatest occurrence of accidents. • Install video surveillance cameras and sensors to track congestion and incidents • More service patrols during peak periods and midday • Dynamic message signs advising of congestion and alternative routes • Key positioning of tow trucks and incident response teams during peaks • HAR and 511 B-44

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates Approximately 20 percent of the accidents, injuries and fatalities occur during rainy conditions or on wet pavements. Approximately 75% of accidents, injuries and fatalities occur during clear conditions or on dry pavements. • Reduce speed limit in rainy conditions • Install pavement condition monitors • Broadcast weather precaution advisories • Message signs indicating conditions of the roads Less than five percent of accidents, injuries and fatalities occur in construction zones. • Require high quality construction detours and traffic control plans • Police enforcement of zone activities • Require proper maintenance of installed roadway construction zone signs Single vehicle crashes account for about 15 percent of the accidents and injuries but over 45 percent of fatalities. • Public notification and education regarding driving safety • Increase number of rest areas and facilities • Install video surveillance cameras and sensors to track errant behavior Rear end collisions account for over 40 percent of accidents and injuries, but less than 10 percent of fatalities. • Public notification and education regarding defensive driving About 50 percent of accidents and injuries are not related to intersections, but account for over 70 percent of fatalities. • Consider reduced speed limits • Message signs and indicators • Public notification and education regarding driving safety A fire is involved in about two percent of accidents and injuries and in about seven percent of fatalities. • Special training for police officers for accidents involving fire response team Alcohol is a factor in less than 10 percent of accidents and injuries but in over 30 percent of fatalities. • Increase public awareness of traffic deaths due to impaired drivers • Increase the breath alcohol testing especially on Fridays and weekends • Increase fines and consequences of DWI More detailed accident analyses could be conducted to correlate many of these and more factors to develop an accident prevention and deterrence program for the region. There are some limitations in the use of the AHTD accident database. The freeway data is relatively accurate and descriptive, but there were many blank fields in the data. There are also some fields that use the value of 0 and 1 to indicate yes or no while another field used 1 and 2 for yes and no , leading to potential error in data entry. The locations of the arterial accident data are less precise than for the freeway data which is keyed to roadway log mile designations. The use of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) in accident recording can eliminate this inaccuracy. Information on the direction of travel on the roadway were not provided with the data received from AHTD, but could be made available for more detailed analyses of accident causation and placement of DMS. B-45

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates 5.0 RECOMMENDATIONS The following are initial concepts for recommendations that may be developed from this study. 5.1 Planning Recommendations: • Establishment an Incident Management Team comprised of key participants with Metroplan facilitation and staff support. • Develop a mission statement and key goals and objectives for the Incident Management Program. • Develop a detailed incident management program for the region which is fully coordinated with the AHTD statewide plan and local plans. Focus plan on prioritized investments for short, medium and long term strategies. Secure key stakeholder buy-in for plan. • Develop proactive public information and education plan to promote public understanding and support for the benefits of incident management improvements. • Improve data collection and analysis techniques to demonstrate program impacts, benefits and evaluation. Strengthen vehicle crash databases. Develop incident response time and clearance databases, which are currently not compiled. Increase GIS utilization in incident management activities. • Standardize incident location reporting using GPS, ultimately as part of an AVL system for tracking emergency vehicles. • Develop a congestion relief plan, since traffic congestion is a contributing factor in traffic collisions. Include public information and strategies based upon predictive and real-time data, such as advance information on trip times and alternative routing. • Scrutinize truck traffic data to determine if measures specifically aimed at motor carriers would be appropriate for the region. 5.2 Incident Detection Recommendations • Develop a phased plan for limited deployment of video surveillance cameras at High Incident Locations (HILs), using information on accidents such as that discussed in Section 4.2 of this report and data from Motorist Assistance Patrol (MAP) activity. Investigate state of the art in detection systems, system costs, and local agency capabilities. Basic systems of detector loops and speed/density trend analyzer software have been used to provide indicators that trigger visual monitoring systems. • Develop working relationships with area agencies to examine the potential to establish a helicopter (or satellite) traffic surveillance and reporting system. Potentially interested agencies may include the local television and radio stations. The local police departments B-46

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates often use helicopters in their incident response and search work, and may be interested in access to such service or joint funding. • Develop a public involvement campaign to encourage the participation of the general public in reporting traffic incidents. • Formalize the process of receiving and verifying incident detail and location information from cell phone call-in of observed incidents. 5.3 Incident Verification Recommendations • Support efforts to upgrade cellular phone locator abilities for 911 centers. • Develop a phased plan for strategic deployment of video surveillance cameras at HILs. • Consider expansion of MAP to focus on areas of relatively high incident occurrence and key areas outside of potential visual surveillance system to allow rapid diversion of MAP vehicles to incident location for verification. 5.4 Motorist Information • Develop a system of Dynamic Message Signs (DMS) controlled from centrally coordinated location(s). Initial accident analysis indicates that one high priority for signage placement is near the entry and decision points to the I-30 segment between I-40 and I-440.. Focus on roadways that have HILs and good alternative routes. Freeways without good alternative routes (such as I-40) should receive attention for corrective and mitigative measures. Coordinate priorities for DMS installation with ongoing communications and other construction and development activities. • Consider development of a website for display of real-time traffic congestion information as part of advanced motorist information system for motorists before they leave their point of origin. • Develop relationships and agreements with radio and television stations to be able to deploy public service bulletins regarding traffic incident reporting and special events. Information on planned construction activities and special event traffic control can be printed in the local newspaper. • Support development of the 511 Traveler Information System for the region. 5.5 Incident Response Recommendations • Consider installing traffic signal priority systems, such as 3M s Opticom system, at all signalized intersections in the RAN and equip all fire, police and ambulance vehicles with transmitters. These devices eliminate conflicts between emergency vehicles and cross-street traffic, saving time for the emergency vehicle and reducing the potential for collisions due to incident response. B-47

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates • Establish program for strategic placement and coverage of response vehicles, using predictive measures such as historical HILs and high accident times of day discussed in section 4.2 of this report. • Maintain adequate training of 911 and other key agency operations personnel regarding first response assignments and agency coordination. • Maintain listing of equipment and personnel resources of participating agencies and associated entities, including contact information for individuals who respond to incidents within a geographic or specialty service area. • Strategically position tow truck equipment and ambulance services and frequently used materials near areas that have high incident rates to reduce response times. 5.6 Site Management Recommendations • Coordinate development of new state and local communications systems for better on site management. Maintain effective communication links between operations centers at participating incident management agencies, operations centers and their agency response vehicles, and response vehicle to response vehicle. • Establish written inter-agency policies and procedures for site control and coordination, including common terminologies, consolidated action plans, span of control, and resource management. Such an Incident Command System typically establishes one person as the incident commander as appropriate for the conditions at the site who is supported by interim commanders and specialty support task leaders under a unified command structure. • Establish and maintain adequate inter-agency training on site management. • Establish a pre-defined set of conceptual site management plans for deployment for key segments of roadway at identified HILs under various incident types. • Provide direct access to centralized database of equipment and personnel resources of participating agencies and supporting service and equipment providers. • Consider acquiring the use of a mobile camera unit mounted on a hydraulic post, similar to those used by television stations for remote broadcasting, for detailed remote oversite and coordination. The City of Richardson, Texas has recently purchased such a unit to assist in traffic surveillance and incident and event control. 5.7 Traffic Management Recommendations • Maintain adequately trained traffic operations, fire and hazardous materials response personnel within the responding agencies. Stress the importance of maintenance of traffic flow to the extent possible while maintaining safety of response personnel and the general public. B-48

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates • Develop a phased implementation plan for a centralized traffic management function or service for the region under the auspices of Metroplan to better employ pre-arranged and as- needed traffic management strategies. Actively manage all available traffic control devices and alternative routes. • Establish written illustrated manuals for traffic control, placement of response vehicles, and other on-site vehicle-related procedures. Stress the importance of minimal lane closures and prompt reopening of travel lanes. Include such measures as adaptive use of shoulders and service roads as well as alternate routes. • Focus on HILs for initial emphasis of alternative traffic control and detour route planning. Continue development of location-specific traffic management plans focusing on high accident locations or other incident-critical bridges or segments of roadway. 5.8 Incident Clearance Recommendations • Conduct a literature search of applicable laws, regulations and ordinances that may need updating or changing to accommodate new incident management policies. • Develop a uniform policy governing the use of towing and wrecker services. Establish minimum response times, equipment standards. Consider a specified fee schedule. • Develop a policy for removal of truck cargo from the travel way and from the incident site that balances the value of recovering the commercial cargo with the cost of congestion. Insurance companies usually support strong incident management and favor quick removal by any means. An aggressive policy to push or pull the truck and cargo off the roadway to open traffic should be promoted. • Develop a policy for prompt removal of disabled vehicles from travel way. To minimize the effects of rubbernecking , promote quick removal or shielding of the vehicle from the immediate incident site. • Develop a policy for prompt vacating of the site by emergency response vehicles once related dangers have been removed from the travel way. • Consider acquiring the use of a mobile camera unit for detailed accident documentation to speed the clearing of persons, vehicles and debris from the site and to facilitate accident reconstruction after the fact. • Develop a data base for response and site clearance times. Information should include initial detection times, initial response, extent and duration of lane closures, and time of clearance of lanes, vehicles and traffic. B-49

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates References (1) As defined on page IV-2 in METRO 2025, the RAN is a network of arterials designed to provide feasible alternatives to the area freeway network for intra-regional travel within central Arkansas (additional information may be found on the website at www.metroplan.org). (2) Incident Management: Detection, Verification, and Traffic Management, prepared by Booz Allen Hamilton, Federal Highway Administration, FHWA-RD-JPO-034. September 1998. (3) The Texas Transportation Institute also reached similar conclusions in its l999 Urban Mobility Report, which estimated incident related congestion accounted for over 57% of highway congestion and produced 2.5 billion vehicle hours of delay. (4) Highway Capacity Manual 2000, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C. (5) The Federal Highway Administration promotes the use of a value of time of $4.00 per hour for analysis of major corridor investments. The Texas Transportation Institute has tracked the value of time for several years, and currently uses a value of over $12.00 per hour in the analysis of High Occupancy Vehicle lanes and other freeway capacity enhancements. B-50

Incident Management Study Wilbur Smith Associates APPENDIX A Agency Representatives Contacted for Input into Incident Management Plan Personal and telephone interviews were conducted with agencies currently involved in various aspects of traffic incident management. The persons contacted include the following: • Mr. Steve Mitchell — Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD) • Ms. Dorothy Rhodes — AHTD • Mr. Leonard Hall — AHTD — District 6 • Mr. Brian Wright — AHTD — Motorist Assist Patrol • Mr. Eric Phillips — AHTD • Captain George Coffman — Arkansas Highway Police • Captain Don Hastings — Arkansas Highway Police • Lt. Gloria Weakland — Arkansas State Police • Mr. Gary DalPorto — Federal Highway Administration — Arkansas Division • Mr. William Henry — Little Rock Traffic Control Center • Mr. Kenny Shaw — Little Rock EMS • Captain Steve Smith - North Little Rock Fire Department • Lt. John Brechon — North Little Rock Police Department • Captain Leonard Montgomery — North Little Rock Police Department • Ms. Lee Shaw — EMS/911 — North Little Rock • Mr. Ron Spychalski — MEMS Ambulance Services • Mr. Jeff Befsancon — Benton Police Department • Lt. Tom Barnard — Saline County Sheriff s Department • Mr. Charles Martin — Lonoke County Sheriff s Department • Mr. Mike Willingham — Skywatch Traffic — KLOVE • Mr. Allen Alvey — Conway Corporation • Mr. Junior Phillips — Arkansas Towing Association B-51

SRTMC Project Purpose: To reduce accidents within High Accident Corridors by improving incident management, providing early warning to motorist of traffic conditions and improving trip planning. PARTNERS BACKGROUND The regional partnership between SRTC, the Washington State Department of Transportation, Spokane County, the City of Spokane and Spokane Transit Authority was developed to address regional traffic issues through a central location. Together they form the Spokane Regional Traffic Management Center or the SRTMC. Although the typical motorist is usually unaware of jurisdictional responsibility at intersections or transportation facilities, people will recognize increased efficiency as traffic flows smoother throughout the region. The SRTMC will maximize continuities in transportation operations between partnership agencies. Development of a traffic management center can focus incident management to a central location during peak periods. Areas around the country have experienced up to 60 per cent reduction in lost time due to early detection and improved incident management. Another benefit to the community is the avoidable cost associated with auto emissions, in particular carbon monoxide. EXAMPLE Simulating an accident on eastbound Interstate 90 just west of the Thor/Freya Interchange during the evening peak hour, could result in additional 427 kilograms of carbon monoxide emissions, have an additional 9,195 vehicle miles of travel and 2500 lost person hours due to delay. The cumulative impact of a one hour accident that closes one lane of traffic has an estimated economic loss of $24,000. This does not include lost wages from freight and goods delivery. Page 1 of 2Transportation Management Center Home About SRTC Calendar Committees Committee Minutes and Agendas Documents and Studies Web Directory Projects Contact SRTC B-52

RELATED SRTMC LINKS MAPS OF EXISTING AND FUTURE LOCATIONS OF INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM DEVICES Page 2 of 2Transportation Management Center Architecture Plan Architecture and Implementation Plan Arterial and freeway surveillance WSDOT website Implementation Plan Cameras Dynamic Message Signs Count Stations Highway Advisory Radio Environmental Sensor Stations B-53

Home Travel Information Partners Initiatives Current Projects ITS Architecture 20-Year Plan ITS Benefits Common Questions ITS Resource Links Contact Us Forum Registration Vancouver Area Smart Trek What is an Intelligent Transportation System? An Intelligent Transportation System, or ITS, is part of the transportation tool kit to better manage the transportation system. ITS uses advanced technology and information to improve mobility and productivity and enhance safety on the transportation system. It uses real time information to integrate and manage conventional transportation system components such as roads, transit, ramp meters, traffic signals, and managing incidents for more efficient operations and performance. ITS can: z Alert motorists, commercial vehicles, and transit operators of congestion by collecting, processing, and disseminating real-time information. z Provide real-time transit arrival and departure information to passengers allowing them to time their departure from work or home to the transit stop. z Reduce corridor congestion by rapidly detecting and responding to traffic incidents. z Reduce travel times, stops and delays by dynamically adjusting traffic signals in response to changing traffic conditions across jurisdictional boundaries and roadway types. In the past, it was generally accepted that we could meet the demand for mobility by building more highways and bridges and adding more lanes to roads and streets in our cities. Today, as many areas of the country have built out the road system and pressure exists to curtail sprawl, we must consider new ways of managing traffic. ITS provides new tools to compliment traditional transportation thinking and the approach is catching on worldwide. Deployment of ITS tools and strategies, seen as the next major evolutionary stage of surface transportation, is expected to be the focus of major metropolitan area implementation efforts early in this century, much like the highway system program was the focus of the last 60 years. ITS is no longer an alternative or option in dealing with congestion and increasing highway travel. It is one of the most cost effective ways to obtain a more efficient transportation system without the need to add more lanes and build more highways. Benefits of ITS A review of ITS projects around the country, has shown that advanced traffic management can: ITS is the application of a range of advanced technologies and proven management techniques to improve mobility and transportation productivity, enhance safety, conserve energy resources and reduce adverse environmental effects. VAST: Vancouver Area Smart Trek B-54

z Decrease travel time 8% to 45% z Increase travel speed 16% to 62% z Reduce accidents 10% to 50% Incident management programs can: z Reduce IM response times by 40% Transit management systems can: z Decrease travel time 15% to 18% z Increase reliability 12% to 23% The Vancouver Area Smart Trek Program The Vancouver Area Smart Trek Program, or VAST, is a new Intelligent Transportation System initiative for the region developed as a cooperative effort by public transportation agencies in Clark County (the Cities of Vancouver and Camas, Clark County, the Washington State Department of Transportation Southwest Region, the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council, the Port of Vancouver and C-TRAN) to implement a 20-year Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Plan. The purpose of the VAST Plan is to: z Identify regional transportation problems and needs z Identify potential ITS solutions z Coordinate both current and future ITS initiatives z Foster interagency cooperation and coordination z Provide a program which allows the region to deploy ITS projects in a systematic manner. The VAST Program consists of a long term ITS vision and plan for VAST: Vancouver Area Smart Trek B-55

the Clark County region. The development of this vision consisted of several key activities: an inventory of the existing transportation system, a needs assessment, an evaluation of ITS strategies that might be appropriate for the Vancouver region, the definition of a VAST system architecture, the identification of a set of ITS initiatives and the development of an Implementation Plan. A detailed description of the VAST program, the ITS initiatives, and the twenty year implementation plan is contained in the Executive Summary (pdf) It is made up of seven key initiatives around which the VAST Plan has been developed: Communications Infrastructure - Communications infrastructure is the backbone for all ITS deployment. Traveler Information - Traveler information provides travelers with the ability to make an intelligent choice regarding mode, route and travel time. It uses static and realtime information Incident Management - The freeway and arterial incident management plan covers operation of any function, device or system that is dedicated to the response to or monitoring of incidents on arterials and freeways. Transportation Management - The freeway and arterial transportation management plan covers the operation of all functions, devices and systems installed or developed for managing freeways and arterials. Traffic Signal System - The existing traffic signal systems in the Vancouver area, while functional, will not continue to meet the growing needs of the signal system operators and local residents. Transit Priority - Public transit plays an important role in passenger transportation in Clark County. The C- TRAN bus system carries over six million passengers per year on 29 routes. Giving priority for buses at traffic signals can make transit more attractive to travelers by helping make bus travel times shorter and more consistent. Transit Operation and Management - The two key components of transit operation and management are: (1) transit traveler information systems and (2) transit agency operations and management. Transit traveler information systems can deliver real-time bus arrival information to transit patrons using changeable message signs, the internet and other communication devices. Transit operation and management tools use advanced technology to help transit providers increase efficiency and improve quality of service provided to the public. VAST: Vancouver Area Smart Trek B-56 Send mail to webmaster@rtc.wa.gov with questions or comments about this web site. Copyright ©2001-03, Regional Transportation Council, All Rights Reserved. This page was last updated November 26, 2001.

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