its america 2007 annual meeting session 41 traffic incident management a top-down vision charles e....
TRANSCRIPT
ITS America 2007 Annual Meeting
Session 41Traffic Incident Management
A Top-Down Vision
Charles E. Wallace, Ph.D., P.E.
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The Problem
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Causes of Traffic Congestion
At least 60% of the causes of congestion can be addressed through traffic management
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2005 National Statistics
Crash Type Crashes Victims
Fatal 39,189 43,443
Injury 1,816,000 2,699,000
Property Damage Only
4,304,000 -
Total 6,159,000 2,742,443
Cost of Crashes, 2000 (last avail.)
$230.6 Billion
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So What Are We Doing About It?
National Traffic Incident Management Coalition’s National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management (TIM):
• Responder safety
• Safe, quick clearance (QC)
• Prompt, reliable, interoperable communications
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Quick Clearance Needs an Open Roads Philosophy
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An Open Roads Philosophy
After concern for personal safety and the safety and security of any incident
victims, the top priority of responders, balanced with the need for accurate
investigation, is to open the roadway by clearing vehicles, victims, and debris from the travel lanes to allow traffic to
resume at the maximum possible capacity under the circumstances
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Why An Open Roads Philosophy?
Is the basis for all TIM/QC polices and best practices
Joins transportation and public safety personnel together in a common cause to enhance safety and reduce incident delay and the chance of secondary crashes
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Washington’s Joint Operations Policy
“The WSP [Washington State Patrol] and WSDOT [Washington State DOT] will
collaborate to respond to incidents and coordinate all public and private resources
in this effort to work toward clearing incidents within 90 minutes.”
(Emphasis added)
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Effective TIM/QC Program Elements
Enhanced service
patrol/DOT incident
response program
24/7 major incident
response
Interagency cooperation
and agreements
Reduced incident
management liability
Quick clearance policy
Multi-agency training
Program evaluation
Legislative and
administrative actions
Incident management
during construction
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So How Does All This Come About?
Bottom up• Inter-agency cooperation
• Partnering Top down
• Strategic planning
• Policies
• Laws
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What a Few States and Regions Are Doing for a Top-down Approach
Florida’s Statewide TIM Strategic Plan Metro Atlanta’s TIM Executive Vision I-95 Corridor Coalition’s TIM/QDC Toolkit
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Florida Statewide TIM Strategic Plan
TIM Reference Document
Strategic Plan
Plan Overview
Exec. Summary
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Florida Statewide TIM Strategic Plan cont’d
Recommended changes in:• Laws• Policies• Procedures• Guidelines• Practices
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Florida Statewide TIM Strategic Plan cont’d
Recommended legislative changes:• Create a cash incentive program for heavy
wreckers on freeways
• Create a common telecommunications system
• Limit liability for all responders
Florida Statewide TIM Strategic Plan cont’d
Recommended policy changes (selected):• FDOT focus on operations in addition to building
and maintenance• Include TIM explicitly in highway design and in
security concerns• Include TIM in FDOT Work Program• Co-locate agencies in TMCs and make them
“home” for TIM/QC• Transform Road Rangers from primarily motorist
assist to TIM/QC and go statewide
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Florida Statewide TIM Strategic Plan cont’d
Recommended procedural changes:• Develop a statewide TIM Program Standard
Operating Procedure for FDOT, TMCs, and Road Rangers
• Champion a new Joint Operations Agreement with other responder partners
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Florida Statewide TIM Strategic Plan cont’d
Recommended guideline changes:• Strengthen support for quick clearance of minor
spills
• Strengthen evacuation guidelines, including contraflow
• Provide guidelines for more positive and rapid access to incident scenes by responders, including air medical evacuation
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Florida Statewide TIM Strategic Plan cont’d
Recommended TIM/QC practices:• Virtually all those best practices now in the I-95
Corridor Coalition Toolkit
• Many best practices were initiated in Florida: Local Open Roads Policies MOUs with Medical Examiners allowing responders
to remove deceased victims form the roadway Rapid Incident Scene Clearance (RISC) incentive
program
2020
Metro Atlanta TIM Strategic Vision
Championed by Georgia DOT, Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA), and FHWA GA Division
Chaired by Commissioner of Transportation
Strong support fro Governor’s Office
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Metro Atlanta TIM Strategic Vision cont’d
Top priority initiatives:• Initiate an Open Roads Policy• Create a cash incentive program for heavy towing
and recovery• Develop a formal training and certification program
for towing and recovery operators• Develop MOUs with Medical Examiners for
responders to remove deceased• Form TIM Teams—up to 17 in the Metro Atlanta
region
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Metro Atlanta TIM Strategic Vision cont’d
Additional initiatives:• Develop responder safety and operational training
• Adopt stricter abandoned vehicle policies
• Develop better investigative techniques
• Quick clean-up of motor vehicle fluid spills
• Create a Legislative Policy Group to determine the best way of implementing TIM/QC best practices
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Where Does the Vision Stand?
• Open Roads Policy (ORP)—awaiting Governor’s signature
• Towing incentive program—specifications and procedures in development, expected roll-out late Fall 2007
• Training and certification program—in development, seeking funding
• Medical Examiner MOU—rolled into the ORP• TIM Teams—five operational already
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I-95 Corridor Coalition in TIM & QC
47 Traffic Incident Management projects in 13 of the 14 years of the Coalition
Four projects directed explicitly at TIM/QC National Cooperative Highway Research Program
Synthesis Topic 33-05, "Safe and Quick Clearance of Traffic Incidents" (cooperative effort)
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TIM/QC/Move-it—Overall Program
Program Phases• QC/MI Study—completed
• QC/MI Executive Summary—completed
• Development of TIM/QC Implementation Toolkit and Workshops—just completed, workshops in progress
• TIM/QC Detailed Implementation Plan—starting
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So, What is the QC Toolkit?
The “Toolkit for Deploying TIM/QC Best Practices”
is a collection of implementation mechanisms from
operational best practices and administrative
actions that can be undertaken by agencies acting
alone and in partnership with others, to regulatory
actions that require a more formal process (such
as “rule making”), and statutory actions
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Purpose of the Toolkit
Identify TIM/QC best policies and practices Resource for …
• Laws and policies
• Guidelines and samples
• Operational best practices
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Toolkit Contents
Part I—Introduction and Purpose Part II—Traffic Incident Management for Quick Clearance Part III—Agency Responsibilities in TIM Part IV—TIM/QC Self Assessment Resources
• References• Web resources• Fact Sheets• DVD
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Next Steps
Executive Forum and Responder Workshops• What are we strong in?
• What are the main gaps? Implementation Plan
• Specific needs to address corridor wide and by region
Direct technical assistance to Corridor regions
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Conclusion
Top-level support—even championing—for aggressive TIM/QC Programs is essential
Go all the way to the top if possible Use national resources: FHWA, National Traffic
Incident Management Coalition, national first responder associations, etc.
Use large regional resources, like the I-95 Corridor Coalition
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Parting Words
The best planned and supported TIM/QC
Program is only as good as the paper its
written on if the field responders aren’t
trained, dedicated, and committed to the
cause!
