4.2.3.6 Use of ITS
ITS equipment has been used to assist in evacuations. However, the equipment does need power and, after a blackout event, needs to be reset.
Loss of ITS Equipment and Communication – Evacuation situations may involve the loss of power to equipment and communication systems. Learning from the 2003 Blackout reported: “Under emergency operating procedures developed after September 11, many of the tunnels and bridges into Manhattan were immediately closed or access to them was restricted. Each of the region’s 13 traffic management centers is linked through an interagency remote video network of more than 400 cameras. Although the network maintained connections with two-thirds of the centers, the system was compromised because most of the cameras in the field failed due to the lack of backup electricity. A portable generator arrived about 8 hours later.”
Effects of Catastrophic Events on Transportation System Management and Operations: August 2003 Northeast Blackout New York City reported: “The region also has over 300 miles of roadway that is covered by Transmit readers. These readers report back speed and congestion data to the transportation management centers. This information is used by transportation officials to quickly identify problems on the system. Within 15 minutes of the blackout, over 90 percent of the readers failed. Therefore, even if the transportation management centers were operating on backup power, they were mostly without video and data readings to understand how the system was operating.”
According to Effects of Catastrophic Events on Transportation System Management and Operations: August 2003 Northeast Blackout Great Lakes Region: “Staff reported that the data-collection devices that would have been most helpful during the blackout were the cameras. When the freeways flooded on Saturday, they could not see the incident on their cameras and could not use their variable message systems to warn motorists. In addition, the Michigan Intelligent Transportation System Center staff also lamented the lost opportunity to record traffic volume data during what was essentially a full evacuation of Detroit on Thursday.”
Need to Reset Equipment – After an evacuation situation, such as a blackout, power needs to be reset. Effects of Catastrophic Events on Transportation System Management and Operations: August 2003 Northeast Blackout Great Lakes Region reported: “Power began to return to the area on the afternoon of Saturday, August 16, 2003. In the aftermath of the event, it took several days for all the ITS equipment to come back on line. Some had to be reset manually, some suffered damage from the blackout, and some had communications problems that required in-field maintenance visits, once power was restored late on Saturday. In addition, although approximately 90 percent of Oakland County’s signals returned without trouble, approximately 200 signals required restorative maintenance.”
In addition to the need to reset traffic signals, the Effects of Catastrophic Events on Transportation System Management and Operations explained: “One problem the Michigan Intelligent Transportation System Center staff encountered was that their variable message signs had already been programmed for the whole weekend to announce lane closures for anticipated construction areas. So when power returned, there was not a good match between what the signs were saying and the actual situation on the road.”
In the New York City blackout experience, Effects of Catastrophic Events on Transportation System Management and Operations: August 2003 Northeast Blackout New York City reported:“In the aftermath of the event, most of the ITS field equipment returned to service with the resumption of power, but it took several days for all the ITS equipment to come back on line. Some had to be reset manually, some suffered damage from the blackout, and some had communications problems that required in-field maintenance visits.”
Redundant Power – The power requirements for ITS equipment generally involve the use of electricity. However, during the blackout in New York City, Effects of Catastrophic Events on Transportation System Management and Operations reported: “Long Island had portable variable message signs that were able to operate with backup power. Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bridges and Tunnels had backup power for their installed variable message signs.”
In addition, Effects of Catastrophic Events on Transportation System Management and Operations reported: “Subsequent to the event, many agencies have already begun the process of purchasing new backup power. New York City Department of Transportation staff has already installed uninterrupted power supplies for each of the traffic control servers at the Joint Transportation Operation Center. Over the past two years, New York City Department of Transportation has upgraded many of its signals from incandescent lamps to LED, which require much less power to operate. As a result of the blackout, agency managers are looking at the possibility of adding battery backup to critical intersections. This would allow signals to work for a period of several hours during a similar blackout.”
Software Programs – The State of Florida uses a program called HEADS UP to assist in evacuation planning. According to A Study of the Impact of Nine Transportation Management Projects on Hurricane Evacuation Preparedness, “Florida used the Federal grant to help develop a geographic information system GIS-based hurricane evacuation software system known as HEADS UP (Hurricane Evacuation Analysis and Decision Support Utility Program). This program extends the capabilities of ETIS (Emergency Transportation Information System) by including additional data. In the future, ETIS will include a model that will compute dynamic clearance times.”
In addition, the study reported that the State of Virginia “used the Federal Highway Administration grant to update estimated hurricane evacuation clearance times for the at-risk population in the Hampton Roads area by developing an interim abbreviated transportation model (ATM).”
Traffic Management Centers – Traffic management centers can assist in managing traffic in evacuation and normal operations such as during the Northridge earthquake. According to Effects of Catastrophic Events on Transportation System Management and Operations: Cross-Cutting Study, “At the time of the [1994 Northridge] earthquake, the Traffic Management Center was being staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year with California Department of Transportation and California Highway Patrol personnel. Extensive traffic management capabilities were already in place on most of the major freeways well before the earthquake, including speed monitoring loop detectors, closed circuit television, on-ramp meters, and permanently mounted variable message signs.”
During the I-95 tanker explosion incident in Baltimore, Maryland, the Maryland Operations Center (traffic management center) coordinated and responded to the incident. According to I-95 Shutdown: Coordinating Transportation and Emergency Response,“Simultaneously, the Operations Center at the Maryland Transportation Authority, which maintains Maryland's seven toll facilities, began to redirect traffic on I-895. Staff at the Maryland State Highway Administration Statewide operations centers north and south of the incident and at multiple centers in nearby states launched systems to redirect traffic around and away from I-95. Four minutes after the crash, as emergency response vehicles and personnel left their respective stations, Maryland's Coordinated Highways Action Response Team changed variable message signs along the I-95 corridor and other feeder interstates in Maryland to inform motorists that I-95 near Baltimore was closed and offer alternate routes.”
Types of Equipment – There are multiple ITS types of equipment. According to the presentation SCDOT (South Carolina Department of Transportation) Evacuation Route, in South Carolina, “closed circuit televisions, changeable message signs, highway advisory radio and vehicle speed detector counters [are] used to monitor traffic during an evacuation.”
According to A Study of the Impact of Nine Transportation Management Projects on Hurricane Evacuation Preparedness,the State of Georgia is “expanding traveler information during evacuations through portable highway advisory radio, variable message signs, and cooperative agreements with Georgia Public Radio stations” to provide information to the traveling public. The state is also “expanding traveler assistance by the Highway Emergency Response Operator (HERO) incident response vehicles.”
Use in Washington, DC, During 9/11 Terrorist Attack – ITS technology was used during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. During the DC attacks, Effects of Catastrophic Events on Transportation System Management and Operations: Cross-Cutting Study reported: “Signal coordination, suspension of construction lane closures statewide, and reversing and opening of high occupancy vehicle lanes in the outbound direction were immediately implemented. In addition, retiming traffic signals for very heavy peak-period outbound traffic facilitated traffic flow through suburban Montgomery County.”
4.2.3.7 Work Zones
Highway construction zones can impact evacuations. According to National Review of Hurricane Evacuation Plans and Policies: “A historically overlooked issue in evacuation planning and preparedness has been highway work zones. In 1998, during the evacuation for Hurricane Georges, the States of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana all had construction zones on evacuation routes. In Louisiana, evacuation traffic on westbound I-10 out of New Orleans was limited to a single lane. Early recognition of this problem by the Department of Transportation allowed them to request the contractor to clear construction equipment and open both of the partially constructed lanes to outbound traffic. Fortunately, the contractor acted quickly and delay was minimized.”
The review reports that a year later similar problems of construction on evacuation routes were also experienced in North Carolina during Hurricane Floyd: “Since the need for maintenance and construction during the hurricane season is unavoidable, some Departments of Transportation have made attempts to avoid conflicts by adding special provisions in construction contracts to accommodate evacuation traffic through work zones. The most common way to do this has been to add clauses that require a contractor to cease all construction activities once an evacuation is declared, clear all equipment, and open all lanes of traffic including those under construction.”
According to Effects of Catastrophic Events on Transportation System Management and Operations: Cross-Cutting Study, during the terrorist attacks on New York City, “all construction work zones involving lane closures were terminated.”
February 7, 2006
Publication #FHWA–HOP-08-015
