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Page 21 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS Most Recent Recommendations 4.1 General Recommendations In general, users find TERA to be engaging and useful once exercises are conducted. However, engaging potential users requires much effort, and is somewhat limited due to (i) lack of emergency management staffing, (ii) relative lack of EM program orientation, and (iii) a cost recovery focus. It is recommended that these issues be overcome to ensure ongoing success. The TERA content remains valuable, but the interface is degrading over time, as the platform is impacted by the sunset of Adobe Flash. Conversion, enhancement, and maintenance of the platform would be appropriate to ensure longevity of the platform. Modern architectures, tools, and technologies are available, and it is recommended that a plan should be developed to migrate the legacy content and data to a new and modern solution, matching TERAâs capabilities. There is value in the legacy established by TERA as a training system, and it should be preserved and maintained. Documentation and cataloging of the existing system architecture and components is highly recommended in order to prepare, in advance, for the establishment of a new architecture design. It is recommended that ongoing research, opportunities, next phases, and partnerships should be fully explored for mechanisms to ensure that TERA content and functionality can be a valuable training capability for transportation organizations and emergency management personnel for many years to come. Ongoing Recommendations The following are topics and recommendations previously reported, but which remain entirely valid for implementing TERA to the transit community: 4.2 Organizational Acceptance For transportation agencies to incorporate TERA into practice, the tool must first be accepted by the transportation community as an applicable tool for exercising decision making during emergency situations. A mechanism for encouraging organizational buy-in is to inform and obtain upper-level management support at both public and private transit agencies and state DOTs by demonstrating the capabilities and benefits of TERA to save time and training costs, improve personnel performance, and provide realistic simulated training experiences. The research team suggests consideration of a threeâstep approach for obtaining organizational buy-in and implementing TERA. Table 4 illustrates this approach by listing the steps, associated action(s), reasons for gaining organization acceptance, and suggested resources. Three-Phased Approach for Obtaining Organizational Acceptance STEP ACTION(s) RATIONALE SUGGESTED RESOURCES Phase 1. Orient Set up meetings and demonstrate TERA with state departments of transportation, transit associations, and other public and private transportation agencies ⢠Obtain acceptance and endorsements ⢠Familiarize agencies with toolâs capabilities ⢠Begin to identify implementation requirements or best fit possibilities for where the tool could be incorporated into transit agencies (e.g., augment existing course o State Transportation Research Centers (e.g., Louisiana Transportation Research Center) o American Public Transportation Association (APTA) o Community Transportation Association (CTAA) o American Association of State Highway and
Page 22 curriculum) Transportation Officials Technology Implementation Group World Conference on Transport Research Society Phase 2. Implement Create and implement outreach activities such as online or in- person peer exchanges, workshops, and stakeholder meetings. ⢠Maintain awareness of TERA with transportation agencies ⢠Provide training support for users and facilitators ⢠Implement and evaluate best practices for using the tool o TRB Annual Conference o Transportation Hazards and Security Summit and Peer Exchange o Annual AASHTO National Transportation Management Conference Phase 3. Inform Document and write-up research results, best practices, and use cases for implementing the tool. ⢠Continue to maintain awareness of TERA with transportation agencies ⢠Validate the implementation approach ⢠Market the tool to a wider audience and outside organizations with similar challenges o TRB Report o AASHTO Journal o Journal of Public Transportation o Journal of Transport Policy 4.3 Financial and Technical Assistance Options Besides organizational acceptance, monetary assistance or technical assistance from government organizations and private associations with similar or complementary missions would create a diversified support stream for long-term sustainment of TERA. Table 5 depicts some potential organizations that may be able to provide short or long-term support. Potential Organizations for Providing Financial or Technical Assistance ORGANIZATION EXAMPLES Government Organizations ï Department of Transportation ï USDAâs Emergency Management Division ï FEMA ï State Transit Administrations ï County Departments of Public Works and Transportation ï Metropolitan Area Transit Authorities University Institutions ï University Transportation Research Centers ï National Transit Institute (NTI) ï Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) ï University Transportation Centers (UTC) 4.4 Technical Support (Software) Another area for consideration when implementing TERA is to provide technical support to assist users in problems or challenges that may arise when operating the software. In general, technical support services will attempt to help users solve specific problems with TERA rather than providing training, customization, or other support services (see Section 2.4 Training Support). Technical support may be delivered over the telephone or online by e-mail, website portal, or directly through TERA where users can report an incident and the call can be logged by the support representative. Annual Users Guides that illustrate best practices and new features of the tool can also be issued to the end user community as a form of technical support. Unlike facilitation guides that offer training support guidance, user guides are more technical in nature that provide information on how to use the primary functions of a system, troubleshooting tips when encountering problems or errors, and knowledge on where to locate further help and contact support details.
Page 23 4.5 Training Support The purpose of training support is to reinforce, maximize, and sustain the capability, capacity, and performance of TERA for the end user community (i.e., state, local, tribal, territorial, and regional transportation agencies). Training support can be made available through in-person training systems such as train-the-trainer workshops or through independent references such as coaching or facilitation guides. Facilitation guides can be used to assist transportation agencies in running an exercise by providing instruction that specifically concentrates on presenting teaching strategies and expert tips for understanding the scenario content and learning objective achievement. TERA contains a Scenario Builder tool that allows users to tailor existing scenarios to their needs or develop new scenarios. Creating a scenario with multiple roles and assessment criteria is a complex task. Three day to one week training courses can familiarize users with use of the Scenario Builder tool and best practices for developing customized scenarios. 4.6 System Sustainment For state, local, tribal, territorial, and regional transportation agencies to access and use TERA over the next 5 to 10 years, hardware and software updating needs should be considered. A key element to continued use of the system is providing a logistical tail to allow implementation of new features and incorporation of user feedback. Upgrades that address user feedback and evolving needs provide a sense of âownershipâ for the user, while a system that doesnât change over time to meet the most frequent user requests will frustrate and eventually alienate the user community. Input for these upgrades and new features come via direct user feedback to the website, after-action reviews following training events, and helpdesk requests. Table 6 presents system sustainment needs along with strategies for fulfilling those needs. System Needs & Strategies for Need Fulfillment System Sustainment Needs Strategies for Need Fulfillment Hardware o Hosting o Server maintenance o Support and sustainment contract from sponsoring organization(s) (e.g., AASHTO) o Revenue stream from providing turnkey exercise facilitation Software o New features o Addressing user feedback o Support and sustainment contract from sponsoring organization(s) (e.g., AASHTO) o Revenue stream from providing customization services 4.7 Follow-Up Research Lastly, to successfully implement TERA follow-up research should be conducted to document and report the effectiveness and usage of the tool for teaching expert decision making strategies during rapidly evolving transportation-related emergency incidents. This phase of implementation will determine whether there is a consensus within a large cross section of transportation professionals from small, midsize, and large transportation agencies, thus further validating the identified critical tasks sequence, actions, and system requirements showing in each of the TERA scenarios. If discrepancies exist between the findings initially identified in the Phase II field testing, researchers can examine these discrepancies and make design adjustments to the existing simulation scenarios. The output of the follow-up research will be requirements used to enhance the existing scenarios, guide new scenarios, document best practices for using the tool, and present learning effectiveness results. All findings could be written in a report and other transportation publications (see Table 1 â Organizational Acceptance; Inform Phase).
