Office of Operations
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21st Century Operations Using 21st Century Technologies

ETO Vision, Mission and Perspective

ETO Home > About Emergency Transportation Operations

Vision

Community of transportation, public safety, emergency management, business and voluntary officials improving highway mobility while using roads to protect lives and reduce suffering during times of need.

Mission

Provide exemplary customer service and expert technical advice/support in accessible and usable form to aid local, State and Federal partners develop transportation plans. These plans will address small traffic incidents to the mass evacuations and will complement emergency operations plans.

Perspective

  • The surface transportation system is vital to our economy, defense, and quality of life, and it is extremely vulnerable to attack due to its enormity and accessibility.
  • Unless we actively manage the transportation system, it will not be prepared for, or able to effectively respond to or recover from a disaster.
  • All emergencies and incidents, regardless of where they are, have a transportation component. Transportation may be the target of a terrorist act or the method of delivery of an attack, but it is always the primary method through which response and recovery are carried out.

Before the Event

  • Transportation and other responders work together regularly in planning for emergencies and practice those plans in joint exercises. Transportation is prepared for its role and to deliver its capabilities, which are well understood by all.

During and following an Emergency

  • Transportation is there at the incident scene, in the Transportation Management Center, and at the Emergency Operations Center. They are prepared - trained and equipped, and able to communicate. They are participating as an equal with other responders.

The Vision in Detail

Plans

  • Transportation Agency Plans
    • The transportation agency has a plan, and follows it.
    • It addresses both response and recovery.
    • It is current and complete.
    • It includes the types of threats we are now likely to face, including biological, chemical, and radiological.
    • They have exercised using it.
    • It reflects the available resources; they know where to find these and how to use them. These resources include:
      –Personnel
      –Assets
      –Personal protective equipment
      –Supplies
    • It includes actions at every level in the Homeland Security Advisory System.
    • It includes pre-planned alternate routes around all major assets and choke points.
  • Regional Emergency Management Plans
    • Transportation is reflected appropriately in the regional emergency management plan.

Technology

  • ITS
    • Agencies have ITS well integrated into their response and recovery plans.
    • Agencies have measures in place to protect their intelligent infrastructure
    • Partner agencies understand transportation's ITS capabilities
    • ITS information is shared with emergency management partner agencies
    • Agency ITS is effectively integrated with other emergency management systems, such as plume and dispersal models.
  • Communications Interoperability
    • Agencies are able to communicate internally and with response/recovery partners through workarounds in the short term.
    • Agencies have a long term plan for more permanent interoperability.
  • Tools
    • The agency has tools to assist it in conducting evacuations and other response activities in real time, such as flow modeling and redistribution.
    • These tools are effectively integrated with the agency's traffic management systems and information.
  • Incident Command System (ICS)/Unified Command System (UCS)
    • Transportation agencies understand ICS and UCS, and know how to operate in this environment.
  • Support
    • The agency has modified its support contracts to specifically address how contractors will assist in dealing with response to and recovery from acts of terror.
    • The agency has addressed how to work effectively with those agencies upon whom it will call for mutual aid.
  • Communication
    • The agency knows how to share information with the public during and following emergencies, and what information to share.
    • The agency knows what information it needs to provide to emergency management agencies to include with the other information being provided to the public