Recently the Federal Highway Administration carried out a number of national telephone surveys of our surface transportation customers. The results showed that while there had been remarkable improvement since l995 of the satisfaction level with the physical condition of our infrastructure, there is growing concern with traffic.
This isn’t surprising when you realize that traffic growth in the U. S. has been booming right along with the booming economy – while capacity growth has pretty much flat lined over the last decade or so.
Most Americans now spend the equivalent of a week stuck in traffic. 1/3 of daily travel occurs under congested conditions. And lest you think this is a problem of the big cities – The biggest growth in congestion is in small cities – 300% between l982 and l997. When we asked people where we should spend our transportation dollars, traffic flow topped the list, but when we asked what improvements we should make their answers showed a remarkable sophistication :
First was "get in, get out and stay out" response" construct and repair roads so they last - and when you repair do it as rapidly as possible even if you have to shut down the road
Second work on your operations: traffic signals, incident response time
Then, consider adding new lanes
Now it is worth asking at this point. Just how realistic is this. Is this a case of our citizens wanting wanting the impossible – solving congestion problems without the pain of construction.
In part it may be. Better operations cannot return our roads to free flow. But there is solid evidence that integrated, aggressive, real time, full time operations
can reduce traffic delays,
it can improve reliability,
it can reduce the number of injuries and
fatalities.
Perhaps more important to the customers we are serving it can restore the feeling of “control” back to citizens as they try to cope with crowded roads.
Over the last three decades, we as a profession have developed a number of strategies to help solve particular operating problems –
And with the advent of ITS many of these techniques can now be used dynamically – used “on the fly” so to speak to adjust to dynamically changing conditions.
Now, these techniques aren’t new to anyone – and I can well imagine someone out there saying – so what’s new. We’re using some or all of those things and losing the war on congestion.
Let me answer that in several ways
1. There are a few of us that are using everything we can optimally – and the fact is at some point the only answer is adding physical capacity. Good operations does not replace construction, it enhances it.
2. 2nd There are very few of us that are using all those techniques optimally. In any one of them—there is a lot of room to improve – whether it is response to weather, incident response, or signal timing.
Third, consider for a moment that eliminating congestion might be the wrong focus. Perhaps we should be focusing on the trip. the experience of the customer making that trip – door to door.
Finally Let me suggest that other metro areas have used these and other techniques and managed to carry what their system was forecast to carry years – sometimes a decade in the future --. And have done it
with congestion yes –
but without chaos,
without massive backups
and with kudos from around the public, and
sometimes around the world.
The examples range from hosting a World Cup soccer match, a Super Bowl, to a State Basketball championship to the granddaddy of them all – the Olympics.
Now I’ve used this example in other presentations, and the first response is Oh sure –people behave differently in the Olympics – more money, more authority, a willingness of the public to behave differently etc etc. NOT APPLICABLE.
Before you dismiss it, I’d like you to look a little harder at these ballets that we execute for special events .
1. We in fact handle more people and more volume on the systems during special events.
2. People behave differently because it they are informed and convinced that it is in their interests to behave differently – I behave differently when I go shopping after Thanksgiving
3. There are more resources yes --- DUH! Aren’t regular citizens worth more resources? If indeed we could make their experience better.?
But I think there is a deeper difference that we could in fact learn from and that is what I’m asking you to consider today.
I suggest that when a metro area takes on one of theses huge special events where their reputation is on the line – that for the first time --Operations becomes, if only for that special event, a “do what ever it takes mission”
Often Some construction is necessary certainly necessary – but it is driven by an operations plan.
But the bulk of the load is borne by some kind of transportation operations group that is accountable” making the system work – everyday , 24/7.
Those task forces or actual organizations bring everyone together that can make a difference in making the system work – under a variety of scenarios that could happen during the event: surge loads, terrorism, traffic accidents, adverse weather…..
Yes the standard state, county and local traffic and freeway ops people but also:
Parking lot owners
Public Safety
Transit
Event facility operators
Media
Towing and wrecking
Weather response teams
Together they often simulated scenario after scenario – watch them blow up then work thru what each entity could do to streamline, optimize – to help make it work. They become a team. That play off the same set of music— everyone knowing their role in the overall whole, everyone knowing the contingency
They work had in glove with constant communications – And they do it!
And when it is all over – it is natural to ask, why can’t we operate like this every day.
Part of the reason is that it takes a “crisis event to create the
“ institutional structure” -- however temporary—to bring all the forces together – to make it work
Most of the players that learned to work hand in glove work in agencies that don’t have system operations as their primary mission –
Design/ construct projects
Return on investment on
event facilities
Return on investment on
parking
Trauma care
Law enforcement
But a big event makes the mission of “operations” paramount – and usually creates an entity for whom that is their primary mission and equally important gives it the money, equipment, and political enabling to get things done.
So we have begun to ask—if we can make the system run smoother and better in a big event – what would it take to make everyday a special event in states and cities across America
To make smooth, dynamic, flexible, operations a fulltime mission.
Is it money?
Is it legislation?
Is it creating the
necessary institutions?
Is it research that needs
to be done?
Is it creating performance
measures?
We have created a national steering committee – chair by Frank Francois who have created a vision, mission and a set of thirteen very concrete objectives as well as a series of issue papers which you will hear more about from Steve Lockwood
And in the past several months they have taken several steps to move the Dialogue to action
Under their direction
By Developing
a Research Agenda which you will hear about from
Dennis Christianson
Tools—one of which you will hear about from Walter Kraft
Measures – we are testing the costs and accuracy of a reliability measure right now – that in essences says while t may take 10 minutes more to get to work in rush hour because of congestion – how often does that spike to 20 minutes or 30 minutes –in other words – how reliable is the system to you the customer, and how well are the agencies managing that system.
Outreach -- We will also be reaching out in a variety of ways to listen, to engender dialogue among a variety of stakeholders Association focus Groups and Working GroupsRegional meetings
E- Dialogue
Each developing “agendas” asking the questions of what does it take to take on the operations mission as though every day were a special event
funding
legislation
research
tools etc
Culminating in an Operations Summit in the Fall
I’d like to close with a challenge to both you as transportation professional and as a member of Aashto
1. Go home and be a champion for raising the bar. What does it take to make everyday a special event in your area
2. Get involved in the National Dialogue – thru your association, your TRB committee, or yourself in the e-dialogue – we’ve made it easy with all new postings being sent to your e-mail. -- If you want to sign up give me your card at the end of the session.