1. Report No.

FHWA-HOP-07-090

4. Title and Subtitle

Common Issues in Emergency Transportation Operations Preparedness and Response: Results of the FHWA Workshop Series

5. Report Date

February 2007

7. Author(s)

Nancy Houston

9. Performing Organization Name and Address

Booz Allen Hamilton
8283 Greensboro Drive
McLean, Virginia 22102

10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS)

11. Contract or Grant No.

12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address

Federal Highway Administration, HOTO-1
U. S. Department of Transportation
400 Seventh Street, S. W.
Washington, D. C. 20590

13. Type of Report and Period Covered

Final Report

14. Sponsoring Agency Code

HOTO, FHWA

15. Supplementary Notes

Kimberly Vasconez, FHWA Office of Operations, Office of Transportation Operations, Contracting Officer's Technical Monitor (COTM).

16. Abstract

Between May 2002 and June 2005, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Booz Allen Hamilton conducted workshops on Transportation Operations Preparedness and Response in 30 regions across the United States. The objectives of these workshops were to:

1. Increase participant awareness of the critical processes, issues, and activities that may arise during and following an emergency, and of the possible approaches for addressing them.

2. Enhance working relationships among personnel from multiple organizations responsible for emergency preparedness and response in each of the 30 regions.

3. Identify areas for improvement for transportation emergency response planning and readiness in each of the 30 regions. Determine next steps to address these areas.

4. Provide input to transportation emergency preparedness guidance material being prepared at the national level.

This report consolidates the common issues identified during the 30 workshops. Issues are not presented in priority order, but rather have been grouped in common categories. The categories are as follows:

• Interagency Coordination and Communication

• Emergency Operations

• Equipment

• Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)

• Mutual Aid

• Threat Notification, Awareness, and Information Sharing

• Policy

• Threat and Vulnerability

This is a companion document to the Best Practices in ETO Preparedness and Response: Results of the FHWA Workshop Series report (Dec. 2006) that identified potential solutions to issues that arose during the workshops and could be applied in other regions of the country. The Common Issues report highlights those issues that arose at several workshops but may not yet have had a solution, such as interoperable communications.

17. Key Words

Emergency Transportation Operations, Interagency Coordination, communications, Emergency Operations, Evacuation, Emergency Traffic Management, Emergency Medical, HazMat, Traffic Control, TMCs, Emergency Notification, compacts, Mutual Aid, Information Sharing

18. Distribution Statement

No restrictions.

19. Security Classif. (of this report)

Unclassified.

20. Security Classif. (of this page)

Unclassified.

21. No. of Pages