Making the Connection: Advancing Traffic Incident Management in Transportation Planning

3. Opportunities to Advance TIM in Transportation Planning and Investments

Getting Together: Connecting TIM Professionals and Transportation Planners

Opportunities abound for connecting these two groups that are so vital to the safe and efficient operation of the transportation system. Each group has a number of regular activities to which the other could be invited, as a guest, presenter, or a regular participant. The cycle of plan updates that are required of transportation planners provides opportunities to engage TIM professionals at the visionary, strategic, and/or tactical levels. Additionally, meetings of elected officials, some of whom may have responsibility for professionals in each group, provide a forum for guiding and promoting collaboration among transportation planners and TIM professionals.

Despite the opportunities to come together to advance TIM, planners and TIM professionals encounter challenges in bridging the cultural divide, making that first connection, and sustaining a collaborative relationship. This section provides approaches for MPO planners and TIM professionals to reach out and engage each other. While the role of the transportation planner at an MPO is ideally situated to reach out and invite TIM professionals into the planning process, the TIM community should not wait for an invitation. There are too many benefits to be gained.

Connecting with TIM Professionals as a Metropolitan Planner

The world of TIM is driven by one overriding goal: safety. TIM operators focus on maintaining and improving safety for both incident responders as well as the motoring public, and planners should recognize that mobility and reliability are often improved by operators' actions. Finding ways to work with TIM teams to maximize operators' ability to do their jobs quickly and safely will help planners reach established mobility and reliability goals.

"Packaging everything in 'safety' is what really gets our attention." – Chief Stephen P. Kopczynski York County Department of Fire and Life Safety

Planners should also recognize that TIM operators know they are least safe when they are on the scene of an incident, so they are motivated to clear incidents quickly to get off the road and into a safe environment. Ideally, a relationship between transportation planners and TIM operators will be a means to facilitate incident clearance, which will result in shortened incident timelines, reduced congestion, and improved safety, mobility, and reliability. Therefore, when approaching TIM operators to begin a dialogue, planners should remember that the most effective message they can convey is that working with the MPO can improve responder safety.

Transportation planners and TIM professionals have an extensive network of contacts, and there is a high likelihood that the two networks have some level of overlap. State and local DOT representatives are the most likely groups to be among both networks. Initial meetings with these "interconnected" representatives could be opportunities to discuss the value of TIM collaboration, membership of the TIM Team (if one exists), who the champion(s) is/are within the TIM community, what the major goal is (which is likely to be safety), and what their current issues and needs are (including supplies and training). Information in each of these areas could become the talking points for first contact with TIM professionals. One of the greatest challenges for planners is establishing trust and buy-in from the TIM community. Creating trust takes time, but as an initial step the MPO may seek out an ally among the TIM community, such as the State DOT, to serve as a champion for connecting TIM professionals and planners.

Case Study: San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Commission – A Forum for TIM Collaboration The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the MPO for the San Francisco Bay Area, works to facilitate and promote interagency coordination among regional TIM and emergency response personnel as part of a comprehensive Incident Management Program. MTC acts as the lead facilitator for the incident response community, coordinating multidisciplinary training and Incident Management Task Force Quarterly Meetings. The need for greater coordination was originally recognized in 2007, during a Statewide Highway Incident Management Summit. In response to this need, MTC began working to develop a series of regional TIM workshops, which were designed to provide a forum for agency personnel who are directly involved in TIM and response efforts to get to know each other, discuss current regional TIM issues, identify ways to work together safely to reduce the impacts of incidents on the highways, and to improve coordinated action among partnering response agencies in incident management. After a series of three increasingly popular workshops between 2010 and 2011, the practitioner gatherings transformed into formal Incident Management Task Force Quarterly Meetings beginning in January 2012. While there were only a handful of attendees in the beginning, the workshops – now the Task Force – grew to include representatives of more than 30 agencies, including all first responder disciplines as well as towing. "Word spread, and the more people who heard about it, the more people wanted to attend. It became a challenge to find a space big enough to hold all the participants," said Sarah Burnworth, who coordinates the MTC's Incident Management Program. Each quarterly meeting is hosted and chaired by a different discipline, and the agenda addresses current issues involving communication, training, data and performance measures, incident debriefs for major incidents that have occurred, and a unique "tours and demonstrations" feature in which attendees are invited to tour the host's facilities (for example, the California DOT's [Caltrans] Transportation Management Center, the California Highway Patrol dispatch center, etc.). There is also an opportunity for attendees to discuss new business and network. Due to these quarterly TIM meetings, the responder and the planning communities have been able to identify some specific needs among responders, and a new series of targeted workshops is in the making. One need that has been identified is in the dispatcher community. As a result, MTC is working with Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol to coordinate a workshop where dispatchers from each discipline and jurisdiction in the region can meet to better coordinate the way they communicate and interact to respond to incidents. The first workshop for this group occurred in February 2013. For inquiries related to the MTC Incident Management Program, or to learn more about how to develop a regional TIM forum, contact Sarah Burnworth at sburnworth@mtc.ca.gov. Source: MTC web site and telephone interview with Sarah Burnworth, Incident Management Program Coordinator, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, December 27, 2012.

Planners are encouraged to go out and develop relationships one on one. Introducing oneself to incident responders can be best done over the phone or in person. Email is typically not the most effective way to initiate contact. When inviting TIM professionals to a meeting, let them know "what's in it for them" and how they can help you with the issues you are trying to address. Initially, planners should sit down with each agency, find a champion for this effort, and have a dialogue on what is hampering TIM operators' ability to get their jobs done as a way to develop a common understanding of what is important to each partner and how you may be able to advance TIM better together.

The role of metropolitan transportation planners is ideally situated for initiating contact with TIM professionals and involving them in the planning process. The MPO's role as convener, coordinator, and facilitator on any topic related to the transportation system creates a variety of opportunities to engage the TIM community. Topics of particular interest to the TIM community include real-time information on system operations, work zone locations and management, and location and scale of planned special events to name just a few. The objectives of responders are centered around reduced responder exposure time, reduced frequency of secondary incidents, and reduced incident response and clearance times. These are all consistent with transportation planners' and engineers' goals of improved safety and reliability, reduced delay, and reduced emissions. Meeting agendas that address any of these topics, objectives, goals, or outcomes may benefit from involvement of the TIM community.

One approach to reaching out and gaining the participation of local fire and other local TIM professionals is to enlist the help of the local departments of transportation that the MPO is already working with. The Genesee Transportation Council had success in asking the local DOTs that were already involved in the planning process to serve as "ambassadors" to their city and county counterparts at fire/EMS departments.

If a TIM Team is in place, it is because one or more champions have taken on the cause. Most often, the group is motivated by a primary purpose: safety for the responder. Requesting a meeting to discuss how to support improved responder safety would be welcomed by any TIM champion. A great deal of information will be gathered through this type of first contact because the TIM Team has already been organized, they know one another, they have defined a common goal, and they are aware of issues that impact their effectiveness.

Each organization within the TIM community has administrators, managers, and a field work force. Initial outreach by transportation planners to senior management or those responsible for their organization's public affairs would provide the appropriate opportunity to make introductions and discover ways to productively engage the organization. Informal one-on-one meetings with a few representatives from the TIM community should be sufficient to verify the initial network of contacts, a list of key leaders in the TIM community, current methods of interaction and coordination, and the strategic goals of the TIM community. Even these initial meetings provide an opportunity to inquire about existing issues and needs.

Organizations responsible for law enforcement and fire and rescue make particularly effective first contacts due to their on-site responsibilities involving traffic incidents. These organizations maintain relationships with virtually all TIM community members as well as with the State DOT and local transportation agencies. Therefore, initial meetings with a police chief and a fire chief would enable the transportation planner to provide an overview of the MPO's purpose and planning process and the mutual benefit that could be derived from TIM involvement. In return, the transportation planner would receive information on appropriate contacts within the TIM community and early ideas for how to initiate a coordinated engagement with TIM professionals.

Depending on the region, the DOT and law enforcement are normally the biggest players in operating the road. They are always a good place to start.

Time should be devoted to understanding the limitations each of these groups face in accomplishing their TIM mission. This may lead to one-on-one meetings with other professionals in the TIM community, again to understand what they do and what limitations they face. Methods of response sometimes differ and/or conflict among TIM providers, creating other challenges to be aware of. This fact-finding effort serves to educate the transportation planning professional and help them prepare for subsequent group meetings with the TIM community. Planners can also learn more about the issues facing TIM professionals by co-training with the TIM community. Staff members at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission co-train with TIM professionals in the region to gain a better understanding of TIM needs and to build trust and credibility with the TIM community.

These early contacts could lead to the creation of an informal working group of transportation planners and TIM leaders that recognize the potentially significant benefit derived through collaboration. As early champions, their efforts would be devoted to outreach, education, and promotion of involvement and arranging an engagement process.

Connecting with Metropolitan Transportation Planners as a TIM Professional

When reaching out to transportation planners and the staff of an MPO, it is helpful to know some basic information about the job of a transportation planner and how TIM can support the planning effort. Local, regional, and statewide transportation planners are responsible for preparing and updating near-term and long-range plans to systematically maintain and improve the transportation system. These plans can improve the safety and efficiency of the current system while at the same time providing incremental capacity increases to accommodate anticipated population growth in the planning area.

Every 4 to 5 years, MPOs are responsible for developing or updating the region's transportation plan for the next 20 or more years. The regional investment program—in which funds are allocated to transportation projects—is updated every 1 or 2 years with a 4 to 5 year horizon. For a project to be funded in the regional investment program, it must either be consistent with or included in the long-range plan.

Human interaction is critical in making this connection, so it is very important to find a liaison or champion willing to lead the effort who has great inter-personal skills, cares about the effort, has energy, and wants to do it.

TIM is considered an important strategy to promote safe and efficient transportation systems management and operations, so one of the best contacts at an MPO for the TIM community would be the planner in charge of transportation systems management. Another good contact would be the planner in charge of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) planning, since ITS such as closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras and variable message signs are used to facilitate TIM and are often used by TIM responders.

Alternatively, in regions with a population greater than 200,000, the staff member responsible for the congestion management process would be a prime contact for the TIM community because TIM is a significant tool for reducing congestion. For some MPOs, the person in charge of the congestion management process or planning for ITS or operations can be identified from the MPO website. In other regions, those roles may be minor and difficult to determine from the website. In that case, in medium sized or smaller regions, making initial contact with the director of transportation planning or the MPO director would be most useful. In smaller MPOs, there may be only one staff person handling Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSM&O) planning, ITS planning, and the CMP, which may be an advantage as this person can serve as a focal contact and may even become a champion for TIM on the planning side.

At first contact, the TIM professional should be ready to explain his or her interest in working with the MPO to help advance TIM in the region, which will help reach regional goals of safety, air quality improvement, and reliable travel. The TIM professional could request an initial one-on-one meeting or invite the MPO planner(s) to a meeting of TIM operators. During the meeting, one of the TIM champions should provide basic information on TIM priorities and needs and ask the MPO planner to provide some information on the planning process. As an additional step, a TIM champion could make presentations to the MPO board to make the case for funding for specific needs such as interagency training, crash investigation equipment, and other items. Human interaction is critical in making this connection, so it is very important to find a liaison or champion willing to lead the effort who has great inter-personal skills, cares about the effort, has energy, and wants to do it.

Case Study: SEMCOG's Annual TIM Partnering Workshops Promote Regional Transportation Operations in Michigan The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) has been involved with the TIM community since it adopted the Metropolitan Detroit Traffic Incident Management Committee in 2005, when SEMCOG participated in an FHWA-sponsored Regional Concept for Transportation Operations (RCTO) initiative designed to outline broad objectives to improve regional transportation operations. As a result of the RCTO process, the TIM committee merged with SEMCOG's Regional Transportation Operations Coordinating Committee. Since then, the organization has hosted seven annual TIM Partnering Workshops for Regional Transportation Operations. Participants at these workshops include staff from the Michigan DOT, Michigan State Police, local police and fire departments, County Road Commissions, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, Universities, private engineering consulting companies, and many others. The one-day workshops are designed primarily to enable practitioners and planners alike to improve their understanding and appreciation of the goals and roles of each responder group at an incident scene to facilitate safe, quick clearance. The workshop also serves as a progress report on the region's efforts to respond to traffic incidents in a way that protects the safety of both travelers and responders and reduces travel delay for people and goods. Planners and practitioners are encouraged and expected to continue the collaborative efforts currently underway and to focus on working together more closely in the future. Source: Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, Regional Operations website. http://www.semcog.org/RegionalOperations_Wkshop13.aspx

Opportunities to Engage the TIM Community

Early engagement of the entire TIM community may best be accomplished through a meeting hosted by the MPO or co-hosted with the TIM Team champion. This first meeting allows participants to introduce themselves and briefly describe their role in TIM. The transportation planner could provide an overview of the purpose of regional planning and emphasize how the planning process provides a resource to help the TIM community improve their performance. Core discussion content could include the identification of current issues and needs that adversely impact each participant's performance.

A desired outcome of this initial TIM community engagement is the identification of individuals who would commit further time to investigating effective ways to achieve sustained involvement of TIM professionals in the transportation planning process. It is useful to remember that like planners, responders are used to working with other agencies and often across jurisdictions during incident response. This commonality will help facilitate any working group's efforts to determine effective ways to involve TIM in the transportation planning process and identify key individuals who might best be suited to the particular forms of involvement.

An optional approach to early engagement could be to select a particular situation, such as an upcoming special event or major construction project, to convene a meeting that includes TIM representatives alongside those responsible for planning and implementing the event/project. Provisions for emergency response, rapid ingress/egress, design for vehicle accommodation and staging, and command locations and coordination are all topics of concern to TIM representatives, and their input would benefit those responsible for the event/project. This type of firsthand experience of collaboration and coordination would serve as the foundation for promoting regular interaction and involvement.

"When you get there, explain the process of planning, explain that you're there to help. Ask where are responders having issues, where do they have needs, and what can we do to help you with that. The key is to come in as a resource." — Gary Milsaps, former director of Georgia DOT's Highway Emergency Response Operators Program

Involving the TIM Community in Planning

Regional and statewide transportation planners must operate in a fairly structured cycle of planning activities in order to meet certain State and/or Federal requirements. The "planning process" creates various committees that would benefit from occasional or regular participation by TIM professionals, such as:

• Standing Committees – Many planning agencies have standing committees that provide technical or policy guidance in the development, implementation, and monitoring of the long-range transportation plan. Since these meetings are open to the public, TIM professionals would be welcome at any time. However, inviting TIM representatives at the beginning of the new planning cycle (as a means of introducing them to the entire process) or during plan implementation/monitoring (as a means of highlighting the value of coordination) may prove particularly productive.
• Special Committees – A growing number of MPOs and State DOTs have or are establishing committees (or subcommittees) with a particular focus on improving transportation system safety and efficiency through more effective management and operation. Such a committee would immediately benefit from direct involvement of TIM professionals, to the point where standing membership would be practical. Agendas for these committees are such that TIM professionals could be easily integrated at virtually any time.
• Task Forces – Some plan updates produce strategic initiatives that rely on a task force to investigate and make recommendations. Initiatives that involve such things as safety, reliability, emissions, delay, and/or system management and operations would likely benefit from including TIM professionals as members. Some MPOs find it useful to host an ongoing group or team devoted to advancing TIM. For example, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) manages several TIM task forces for its region, each focused around a different corridor. A planner from DVRPC noted that keys to the success of these teams were to allow the TIM community to take ownership of the group and elect a chair or cochairs from two different disciplines. The groups rotate meeting locations so that each organization has the opportunity to introduce the team to their facilities and equipment.

Sustaining the interest and involvement of TIM responders beyond the State highway patrol/police and the DOTs involves capitalizing on early, quick wins to demonstrate that the MPO and the State DOT want to be involved in and promote TIM. DVRPC has successfully supported multiple TIM teams in its region since 1999, and their staff report that one of the first activities of the TIM teams was to ask the members about their needs and issues. DVRPC learned that ramp signing at interchanges was a major issue for a few of the groups. It was a relatively low-cost need that would have significant benefits for the responders in locating and responding to incidents. DVRPC worked with the New Jersey DOT and Pennsylvania DOT to create enhanced ramp designation signs and plan their placement at interchanges.

Recognizing and learning from the unique and valuable expertise that each TIM partner contributes to the success of safe, quick incident clearance is another method to engage and keep a variety of TIM partners at the planning table. For example, in Atlanta, Georgia, the Traffic Incident Management Enhancement (TIME) Task Force leaders capitalized on the specialized expertise that regional towing professionals have in crucial clearance activities such as heavy equipment removal; now, towers provide training on this to other task force members.

In many cases, initial involvement of TIM representatives from the DOT, law enforcement, and/or fire and rescue will immediately activate the biggest players in TIM operations and management. They are likely to be in positions to attract the involvement of others in the TIM community and have ideas of when and how to achieve that involvement.

A challenge faced by planners in engaging the TIM community in planning is a high turnover rate of first responders and especially state police representatives. Establishing and maintaining an ongoing TIM committee allows the new members to be more easily brought in. In addition, a one-on-one meeting with the new member and the leader of the TIM committee can be an effective way to introduce him or her to the collaborative effort.

What Can Be Accomplished?

Direct involvement of TIM professionals in the overall metropolitan transportation planning process will lead to accomplishments at many levels.

MPO Board Members, Elected Officials, & Community Leaders – These groups will understand more fully and more clearly (1) how TIM professionals support the safe, efficient, and reliable operation of the transportation system and (2) how the investment decisions they make can cost-effectively improve the safety and effectiveness of TIM professionals for the benefit of all users and the environment.

Partnering Agencies and Other Providers – Members of technical committees and/or subcommittees will establish or reinforce direct relationships with TIM representatives and determine more effective ways to communicate and coordinate. Their technical work in identifying existing and future transportation needs (e.g. safety, connectivity, reliability, redundancy, predictability, capacity) will broaden to include TIM perspectives on system management and operations. The integration of TIM-related elements into planned projects and programs will lead to greater returns on the investments being made. Opportunities to enhance user and responder safety, decrease non-recurring delay, and improve air quality will expand, as will the ability to monitor and measure progress toward performance goals and objectives associated with these benefits.

Stakeholders and the General Public – These groups will achieve a heightened sense of awareness of the risks faced, services provided, and benefits derived from TIM responders. As an informed electorate, they will have a deeper understanding of the value derived from investments made to provide, train, equip, and coordinate TIM functions. By extension, they will be the direct benefactors of these investments, particularly the economic and societal benefits associated with faster emergency response times, decreased delay, lower fuel consumption, and reduced emissions.

The TIM Community – Their participation will lead to more effective communication and coordination among themselves and with partnering agencies, other providers, and elected officials. A greater sense of interdependence will evolve among these partners. Their needs will be better understood and attract funding and political and community support for effective solutions. The safety of first responders will be improved as a result of reduced clearance times, which will decrease the exposure of on-scene personnel to the dangers of the roadway, such as being struck or injured in secondary incidents.

The Transportation System and the Environment – Transportation planning organizations are operating in an era of significant financial constraint, even as issues of increasing congestion and worsening air quality continue in our urban areas. Congestion produced by non-recurring delay is a significant societal challenge in our metropolitan areas. Investments in TIM strategies have proven to be highly effective in reducing non-recurring delay, crash frequency and severity, and first responder exposure. Many of these investments are low-cost and produce high rates of return.

Integrating TIM into Transportation Planning

Integrating TIM in the Development of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan

Metropolitan transportation planning is a vision and goal-driven process. Elected leaders, major providers of transportation facilities and services, and key user groups gather together and, with public input, go on to shape a vision of the future and establish goals that help describe that vision.

The entire planning process is meant to frame how an area will grow (or change) and how agencies will meet the resulting near-term and long-range transportation demands. The development of the metropolitan transportation plan generally follows the five step process defined in the diagram below.

Figure 2. Five-step process generally followed in developing a metropolitan transportation plan.

There are opportunities for TIM professionals to influence and provide input at each of these steps. Even before this process begins, TIM professionals should be involved at the committee or task force level of the MPO to provide input on TIM priorities, needs, and possible strategies that could be funded through the planning and investment decisionmaking process at the MPO.

One of the most effective ways for the TIM community to have input ready for the development of the metropolitan transportation plan is to coordinate with the MPO to develop an operations or TIM-focused strategic plan that presents a comprehensive vision for TIM (or overall operations) in the region and measurable objectives, performance measures, and action items/strategies for reaching those objectives. Then, when it is time to develop or update the metropolitan transportation plan, the TIM community has documented and collaborative input that can be woven into the planning process to support regional mobility, safety, and environmental goals.

Guidance

Visioning – Elected officials and community leaders are often called upon to provide a vision for the future of the region. High-level officials from within the TIM profession could serve an advisory role and provide key insights to this visioning process. A respected TIM official from within the community can readily serve as a TIM champion to virtually any MPO Board or other leadership group responsible for developing the vision.

Setting Goals and Objectives – Setting meaningful goals and objectives that tie directly to the vision and lead to desirable plan solutions is always a challenge. Crafting goals that are specific and developing supporting objectives that are measurable can also be difficult. Senior managers from within the TIM community (TIM Leaders) would be very effective contributors to this effort. TIM professionals are mission driven and experienced drafters of goals and objectives that support more effective transportation system management and operations. TIM Leaders working alongside other local, regional, and State leaders will establish a mutually agreeable set of goals that define what the Plan is to accomplish. TIM Leaders can be expected to show strong support for goals focused on transportation system safety and efficiency.

Advocating for measurable TIM-related objectives requires linking regional goals in areas such as mobility, safety, and the environment to TIM priorities (responder/traveler safety and minimal incident clearance times). These priorities easily translate into strategic, measurable objectives and targeted performance measures that are mutually agreed to by those responsible for developing the Plan and their partnering agencies.

Current and Future Issues

Identifying Existing Needs – TIM professionals have a unique and valuable perspective on the transportation system; they see how and why it works and why it fails. They often see needs (physical and operational) that planners and engineers may not be aware of. As a group, they also have their own needs (e.g., better awareness, communications, and coordination) that would improve their safety and performance, which (in turn) would benefit virtually all users, providers, and the system as a whole. Mid-level TIM managers and field supervisors would find involvement in such activities to be very productive and potentially fruitful in getting TIM needs met.

Potential and Preferred Solutions

Solving Near-Term and Long-Term Transportation Issues – TIM professionals can bring a variety of techniques (or strategies) to bear that will support and help accomplish the objectives set forth by the MPO. Issues of non-recurring delay, system reliability, traveler safety, worker and responder safety, energy efficiency, and emissions can all be addressed with great effectiveness using TIM techniques.

Oftentimes, from the planners' perspective, existing problems may appear to be difficult to solve with low-cost (affordable) solutions that can be rapidly deployed. However, within the TIM community, low-cost solutions have often come about due in part to limited resources. Field-tested TIM managers are trained problem-solvers; they focus on increasing responder and victim safety, reducing clearance times and exposure to secondary incidents, and minimizing delay and emissions. They make for great collaborators in developing effective solutions that produce triple bottom line benefits.⁷

Case Study: DVRPC Surveys TIM Practitioners to Identify Regional Priorities DVRPC's TIM Program is integrated into the MPO's planning processes through the long-range plan, the congestion management process, and the Transportation Operations Master Plan. The Transportation Operations Master Plan is a component of DVRPC's adopted 2035 long-range plan and was developed in cooperation with DVRPC's Transportation Operations Task Force, which is composed of traffic, transit, and emergency responders in the region. As part of the Transportation Operations Master Plan planning process, DVRPC surveyed not just county planners and transportation operations center staff, but also county 9-1-1 center personnel, State police officers, local emergency responders, and others for their inputs on regional transportation priorities. Because members of all the region's incident management task forces were surveyed, emergency response personnel represent the largest number of the respondents, and their interests greatly influenced the Master Plan. These survey results became a central factor in the Plan's goals and objectives as well as its projects and programs. An interesting, high-priority program that was recommended in this plan is DVRPC's "Incident Management Grant Initiative." The intent of the initiative would be to issue small-scale grants, $70,000 per year in total, to local responders and county 9-1-1 centers to purchase equipment for highway incident management. Eligible projects could include traffic control equipment, detour route and reference location sign implementation, communications equipment for interagency operability, traffic signal power interrupt devices, and training courses. This is envisioned to be a competitive program that would be structured in a way to foster greater interagency cooperation. The initiative is gaining support, but is currently not funded. Source: DVRPC, Transportation Operations Master Plan, July 2009, http://www.dvrpc.org/reports/09049.pdf

Cost Feasible Plan

TIM officials and managers can provide important input on the cost over time for TIM improvements as well as provide input on the priorities of TIM-related projects and programs that will help achieve TIM objectives.

Implementation and Monitoring

TIM professionals are implementers, paying close attention to performance and striving for improvement because their lives depend on it. They collect data and generate performance reports to support performance evaluations and target areas for continued improvement. Because of this, the TIM community can be very supportive in implementing and monitoring solutions, often collecting data that may support the monitoring process. Collaborating with the TIM community during preliminary and final plan design provides opportunities for project refinements that meet the needs of responders at little or no additional cost. Coordinating with them in advance of construction projects can improve work zone safety, expedite construction, and reduce delay and emissions. Again, the TIM Professionals can readily support the collaboration and coordination, while TIM Managers can be sources of valuable data for monitoring progress toward mutually beneficial goals and objectives.

Regional TIM Priorities and Performance Measures

Establishing specific objectives for TIM and related performance measures within the context of the metropolitan transportation plan is an important step in advancing TIM needs and strategies in the plan. The objectives and performance measures selected for the plan will help guide the selection of projects and programs to be funded for years into the future. Depending on the region, the metropolitan transportation plan may include objectives related to higher level outcomes, such as reliability and non-recurring congestion, and then reference an operations or TIM-focused plan for more objectives and performance measures that directly support the higher level outcomes.

As mentioned earlier, some regions go into more detail on operations strategies, such as TIM, for a separate operations or ITS plan that feeds into the overarching metropolitan transportation plan. For examples of this, see Portland Metro's Transportation Systems Management and Operations Plan and DVRPC's Transportation Operations Master Plan. Supporting objectives and performance measures in the metropolitan transportation plan that are directly impacted by TIM strategies such as reliability and non-recurring delay/congestion will help to advance TIM as a solution in the overall planning process.

Case Study: Portland Focuses on Performance Measurements to Gauge Investments The Portland Metro's 2035 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) outlines the use of a performance measurement system that evaluates investments in the transportation system to determine whether they have achieved the desired outcomes and provided the best returns. The evaluation element of the RTP performance measurement system comes into play every 4 years, during the periodic plan update cycle. During these updates, the region revisits its goals and objectives for the transportation system and develops and refines an investment strategy. In previous RTPs, the success of the investment strategy was measured narrowly, considering whether the plan met vehicle level of service standards and mode share targets for walking, bicycling, transit use and shared ride. The performance measurement system introduced with the 2035 RTP update adopts an outcomes-based performance evaluation and substantially broadens the performance measures applied to track how well the investment strategy addresses the full set of goals for public investments, including incident-related delay. One of the plan's stated performance measures is "average incident duration on the throughway system." Source: Portland Metro, 2035 Regional Transportation Plan, http://www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=25036

The Regional TIM Planning Sheets in Appendix A of this primer provide a large sample of TIM objectives, performance measures, and data needs that can be consulted when selecting TIM objectives for the reader's region. In addition, there are TIM goals, objectives, and performance measures that have been proposed at the national level that may provide a starting point for regions just beginning to define specific TIM objectives.

For example, the National Unified Goal contains three objectives that could be transformed into specific, measurable statements and included as objectives in a transportation plan. The objectives of the National Unified Goal are:

• Responder safety;
• Safe, quick clearance; and
• Prompt, reliable, interoperable communications.

Responder safety is readily supported by all organizations involved with planning and providing transportation facilities and services. It directly links to any goal related to transportation system safety. Rapid, safe clearance of incidents is an objective that directly supports the goals of transportation system efficiency and regional air quality. A central function of every MPO is to foster and support interagency cooperation, coordination, and communication. Similarly, the success of TIM professionals depends on effective communication. An objective regarding prompt, reliable, and interoperable communications could lead to the identification of several communications infrastructure improvements with multiple benefits that extend to other transportation providers and operators as well as the traveling public.

As part of a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) initiative, 11 States reached consensus on three objectives and related performance measures for their TIM teams (Table 1). These objectives could be easily converted into targeted, time-bound objectives and used in a metropolitan transportation plan or related operations plan.

In June of 2008, a TIM working group in Hampton Roads, Virginia, hosted by the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization and the Virginia DOT, formalized the Hampton Roads Regional Concept for Transportation Operations – Traffic Incident Management (RCTO-TIM). The RCTO-TIM, developed by a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary group of transportation planners, operators, and public safety professionals, established a mutual set of objectives, performance measures, and actions to advance TIM in the region. Since the development of the RCTO-TIM, TIM performance measures have been tracked by the Virginia DOT, and funding has been provided through the MPO's transportation improvement program for the purchase of TIM-related equipment. The following diagram shows the TIM objectives and performance measures in the Hampton Roads' RCTO-TIM.

Table 1. TIM program objectives and performance measures developed through the FHWA Focus States Initiative⁸

TIM Program Objectives	Related Performance Measures
Reduce "Roadway" Clearance Time	Time between first recordable awareness of incident by a responsible agency and first confirmation that all lanes are available for traffic flow.
Reduce "Incident" Clearance Time	Time between first recordable awareness of incident by a responsible agency and time at which the last responder has left the scene.
Reduce the Number of Secondary Crashes	Number of unplanned crashes beginning with the time of detection of the primary incident where a collision occurs either a) within the incident scene or b) within the queue, including the opposite direction, resulting from the original incident.

Examples of How TIM has been Integrated into the Transportation Plan

Although there typically is no "chapter" on TIM in a metropolitan transportation plan, there should be evidence of TIM-related considerations in any plan prepared by an organization that has been deliberate about including TIM professionals and incorporating TIM needs into the planning process. Plans that address TIM needs could include:

• Goals that address the management and operation of the transportation system, travel time reliability, non-recurring congestion, air quality, and safety.
• Objectives and performance measures that focus on non-recurring delay/congestion, reliability, secondary incidents, responder safety, or incident clearance time.

Figure 3. Hampton Roads' objectives and performance targets for the region's regional concept for transportation operations (RCTO).

Source: Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization.⁹

• Strategies that employ TIM capabilities to meet a regional need as an alternative to other approaches or in concert with complementary efforts.
• Programs/Projects/Actions that serve as evidence of a commitment to support and advance TIM.

Evidence that TIM is incorporated in the planning process may include:

• Leadership in the form of a TIM representative as an advisor or ex-officio member of the policy committee or regional planning board.
• Collaboration through on-going involvement of TIM professionals in committees, subcommittees, or task forces devoted to improving the management and operation of the transportation system.
• Coordination through the involvement of TIM professionals in monitoring, data sharing, reporting, and debriefing.

At the strategic level, TIM may have its most logical connection to the efforts each region devotes to efficient transportation system management and operation. Groups that are dedicated to this aspect of transportation system performance share a great deal in common with TIM professionals. Some regions have advanced TSM&O to a stage where it warrants its own planning document and committed level of funding.

Other groups, with a focus on congestion management and/or on transportation safety, would benefit from regular engagement with TIM professionals. Again, some regions may make such groups responsible for a Congestion Management Plan or a Regional Safety Plan. Either or both of these types of plans may have dedicated funding that establishes them as a program, with the committee producing the annual list of investments to make.

Examples of components from metropolitan transportation plans that demonstrate the incorporation of TIM are given below for each type of "evidence" that may be included.

Regional Goals that can be Directly Effected by TIM

The 2040 Regional Transportation Plan for the Pima Association of Governments, which includes Tucson, Arizona, includes eight goals, one of which is directly supported through TIM: "System Performance: Unobstructed mobility through efficient system management, preservation and operations." To support this goal, TIM is one of the areas emphasized in the plan's congestion management process.

The Denver Regional Council of Governments 2035 Metro Vision Regional Transportation Plan also includes TIM improvements and contains an air quality goal that can be directly supported by TIM, "Reduce the annual per capita greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector by 60 percent by 2035." The plan includes a policy that is also supportive of TIM and other operations strategies: "Policy #4. Management and Operations. Make the best use of existing and future transportation facilities by implementing measures that actively manage and integrate systems to optimize system performance and safety, provide accurate real-time information, reduce the demand for single-occupant motor vehicle travel, and reduce per capita Vehicle Miles Traveled."

TIM-related Objectives and Performance Measures

Objectives and performance measures relevant to TIM can be found integrated into the overall objectives and performance measures of the metropolitan transportation plan or specifically included in operations or ITS strategic plans that are linked to the metropolitan transportation plan. TIM objectives and measures may also be included in the congestion management process component of the metropolitan transportation plan. Below are three examples that illustrate each case.

The 2035 Regional Transportation Plan Update developed by the Madison, Wisconsin, metropolitan planning organization and its planning partners includes several TIM-specific performance measures and objectives in the form of performance targets in the congestion management process portion of the plan. These objectives lead to the recommendation of TIM strategies and projects in the plan.

The performance measures, threshold goals, and monitoring schedule from the Madison plan are shown in table 2.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) included objectives and performance measures explicitly for TIM in its 2011 Regional Operations Plan. A specific TIM objective contained in the Regional Operations Plan 2011 is: "Manage and coordinate incident and emergency response activities."

Table 2. Performance measures and targets from the Madison, Wisconsin area's metropolitan transportation plan.

Performance Measure	Threshold Goals	Monitoring Schedule
Freeway Non-Recurring Congestion	70% of non-recurring congestion should not last longer than 30 minutes	Selected corridors beginning in 2013
Freeway Incident Index	Total lane-hours of closure/average weekday < 2.0	Requires data tabulation beginning in 2012
Urban Arterial Street Travel Time Index	1.75 (traffic speeds on 30-40 mph roadways should not experience incident-related speed reductions of more than 30 percent)	Selected corridors beginning in 2013
Urban Arterial Street Non-Recurring Delay	Incident clearance average < 1 hour	Requires data tabulation beginning in 2012
	Special Event traffic management plans in place for all events	Currently Implemented

Performance measures relevant for TIM include: "Percent of traffic signals equipped with emergency vehicle preemption" and "Mean & median incident clearance times."

In the Genesee Transportation Council's metropolitan transportation plan, a performance measure for TIM is integrated into the set of performance measures used to address all aspects of transportation system performance. This plan is used as a sample plan incorporating TIM in the next chapter.

DVRPC is gathering operations data to compare incident duration times along corridors where TIM teams currently exist. Preliminary results suggest that the longer TIM teams have been meeting, the shorter the average incident duration times in those corridors compared to corridors where TIM teams have more recently formed.

TIM Strategies

The examples below illustrate the inclusion of TIM strategies into metropolitan transportation plans.

The Pima Association of Governments 2040 RTP includes a significant discussion of TIM and a recommendation for a formal TIM team as one of its plan implementation strategies:

Case Study: PAG Aims to Increase Safety through TIM Safety was identified as a top concern by the public during planning for the 2040 RTP, and more than 10 implementation strategies are dedicated to the topic, including TIM. Traffic incidents, such as crashes, stalled vehicles, traffic stops, roadway debris, weather events, construction and special events, are estimated to cause nearly 60 percent of the total delay experienced by motorists in the United States. Traffic congestion caused by these incidents affects the safety and mobility of all travelers. TIM is an effective transportation improvement program that works to reduce the effects of incident-related congestion. Incident management detects incidents when they occur, reducing the time for responding vehicles to arrive and the time required for traffic to return to normal conditions. Many public sector and private sector partners are involved in traffic incident management, but it is not a core function of any agency. The 2040 RTP Implementation Strategies encourage the jurisdictions and private sector partners to establish a formal traffic incident management program in order to better coordinate the operations and responses of the many entities involved, including first responders and police. Source: Pima Association of Governments, 2040 Regional Transportation Plan, http://www.pagnet.org/programs/transportationplanning/2040regionaltransportationplan/tabid/809/default.aspx

The 2040 Regional Transportation Plan for the Ohio- Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments includes TIM strategies in both the congestion management process and ITS components. The plan recommends "Implementation of the State's Transportation Operations Infrastructure Plan" and the "Development and implementation of an enhanced Regional Incident Management Plan."

TIM Programs/Projects/Actions

The 2040 RTP for the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments also includes specific TIM projects with estimated costs as part of the cost feasible portion of the plan. These projects are taken from the ITS architecture and strategic plan for the region and incorporated into the plan. Below is a table from the RTP highlighting several TIM-related projects, such as emergency vehicle signal priority, increase service patrols, and additional freeway message signs.

Table 3. TIM-related projects listed in the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments' regional transportation plan.

Project	Cost
Traveler information on Cincinnati parking facilities – Variable Message Sign, mobile or on-board notifications	$1,250,000
Transit Automated Vehicle Locator system	$450,000
Work zone safety improvements	$75,000
I-75 and I-471 ramp metering	$6,000,000
Bus signal priority along key transit corridors	$800,000
Emergency vehicle signal priority	$800,000
Increase service patrols	$1,600,000
Transit vehicle updates including electronic fare boxes and real-time passenger count	$3,000,000
Additional ARTIMIS message signs (I-74, I-275 and SR 32)	$1,650,000
Total	$15,625,000
Source: Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments, 2012 ITS Architecture Update and Strategic Plan.10

Regional Investment in TIM

When TIM is understood as a core element of providing a safe, efficient, and more sustainable transportation system and included in the metropolitan transportation plan, elected officials, regional leaders, and citizens respond with support for TIM investments. TIM investments may come from a variety of sources, such as operating agency budgets, but all TIM investments for the region that receive Federal funds must be included in the MPO's transportation improvement program (TIP). The MPO updates the TIP at least every 4 years to identify those projects or strategies from the metropolitan transportation plan that it plans to undertake in the next 4 years. TIM projects may be eligible for Federal funding through several different funding programs described in the table at the end of this section.

Regional investments that can benefit TIM vary widely. Some investments may meet a specific TIM need (e.g., TIM training, specialized first responder equipment) that is only of direct benefit to TIM professionals. Other investments may, in fact, be motivated by a need that is seemingly unrelated to TIM, but still provides direct benefit to the TIM community. Listed below are some examples of regional investments that benefit TIM:

• Towing Recovery Incentive Program – Paying an incentive to towing companies when an incident is cleared within an established timeframe (e.g., 90 minutes). Such a program could be implemented as a pilot to prove its effectiveness, possibly for the more complex incidents (e.g. crashes involving trucks, heavy vehicles, hazardous materials, etc.).
• Training, Materials, and Supplies – Establishing or expanding a "joint response" training program, keeping it updated, and delivering it frequently enough to keep field personnel current in established response methods.
• ITS – Investments in technology to detect, measure, and visually monitor incidents and to improve the speed, accuracy, and reliability of communications for a particular component of the transportation system (e.g., freeways, arterials, transit-ways) may be a sought-after investment by a local or State DOT. Such information and technology would be of significant benefit to TIM professionals.
• Incident Management Equipment – Equipment needs can range from traffic cones and flares to specialized towing and recovery vehicles to protective gear for first responders. Each type of investment contributes to responder or traveler safety, improved clearance time, system reliability, and reduced delay and emissions.
• Collaboration and Coordination – Staff time devoted to supporting not only the planning process, but the ongoing efforts to coordinate communications, actions, and follow-up improves the efficiency of each organization involved with the transportation system and its performance.
• Highway/Freeway Vehicle Pullouts and Turnarounds – These facilities may be called for as a part of improvement projects to support improved maintenance and/or policing. Such facilities can also be of significant value to TIM professionals, if properly located to support rapid response for road assistance programs and/or towing assistance to incidents.
• Highway Service Patrols – Assist with incident scene management and quick clearance activities and deal with minor incidents (e.g., flat tires, vehicles out of gas, etc.) to help free up State DOT, law enforcement and emergency services resources and to reduce delay associated with minor incidents. Highway Service Patrols are cost-effective because they can leverage private resources through sponsors such as insurance companies.

Obtaining and maintaining funding for TIM is a significant challenge. This may be addressed through marketing the benefits of the existing TIM investments or efforts, such as documenting the benefits of using a TIM-related monitoring system at a high-profile event. Regions frequently have difficulty successfully competing smaller-scale TIM projects with other larger projects. Some MPOs, such as DVRPC, use their planning funds to support TIM with short-term mapping projects, conference hosting, and TIM training.

Table 4. Description of Federal funding programs that may support TIM-related activities

Federal Funding Program	Purpose	Sample of Eligible Activities Related to TIM
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ)	Provides a flexible funding source to State and local governments for transportation projects and programs to help meet the requirements of the Clean Air Act. Funding is available to reduce congestion and improve air quality for areas that do not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone, carbon monoxide, or particulate matter (nonattainment areas) as well as former nonattainment areas that are now in compliance (maintenance areas).11	Projects that improve traffic flow, including projects to improve signalization, construct HOV lanes, improve intersections, add turning lanes, improve transportation systems management and operations that mitigate congestion and improve air quality, and implement ITS and other CMAQ-eligible projects, including projects to improve incident and emergency response or improve mobility, such as real-time traffic, transit, and multimodal traveler information. Purchase of integrated, interoperable emergency communications equipment.12
Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP)	To achieve a significant reduction in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads, including non-State-owned public roads and roads on tribal lands. A highway safety improvement project is any strategy, activity or project on a public road that is consistent with the data-driven State Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) and corrects or improves a hazardous road location or feature or addresses a highway safety problem.13	Installation of a priority control system for emergency vehicles at signalized intersections. Collection, analysis, and improvement of safety data. Planning integrated interoperable emergency communications equipment, operational activities, or traffic enforcement activities (including police assistance) relating to work zone safety.14
National Highway Performance Program (NHPP)	To support the condition and performance of the National Highway System (NHS), for the construction of new facilities on the NHS, and to ensure that investments of Federal-aid funds in highway construction are directed to support progress toward the achievement of performance targets established in an asset management plan of a State for the NHS.15	Operational improvements of NHS segments which include capital improvements for installation of traffic surveillance and control equipment, computerized signal systems, motorist information systems, integrated traffic control systems, incident management programs, and transportation demand management facilities, strategies, and programs.16 Capital and operating costs for traffic and traveler information, monitoring, management, and control facilities and programs. Infrastructure-based ITS capital improvements.17
Surface Transportation Program (STP)	Provides flexible funding that may be used by States and localities for projects to preserve and improve the conditions and performance on any Federal-aid highway, bridge and tunnel projects on any public road, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, and transit capital projects, including intercity bus terminals.18	Operational improvements for highways. Capital and operating costs for traffic monitoring, management and control facilities and programs, including advanced truck stop electrification. Infrastructure-based ITS capital improvements.19
Metropolitan Planning	Establishes a cooperative, continuous, and comprehensive framework for making transportation investment decisions in metropolitan areas.20	Planning funds may provide for MPO staff support for TIM training, coordination, regional TIM guideline development, minor studies, and other staff activities to support regional TIM programs.

Case Study: TIM Plays Leading Role in DVRPC's Data-Driven Future The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) launched its Traffic Incident Management Program in 1999. Since then, it has administered and supported seven traffic incident management task forces within the region and developed two software programs to improve incident management responses and foster interagency coordination. One of the programs, IDRuM (Interactive Detour Route Mapping), is an internet application used to access official Pennsylvania DOT and New Jersey DOT detour routes covering five Pennsylvania and eight New Jersey counties. DVRPC, in conjunction with regional transportation agencies, also developed the "Regional Integrated Multi-Modal Information Sharing" (RIMIS) program, a web-based information exchange network with the ability to connect highway operation centers, transit control centers, and 9-1-1 call centers in the Delaware Valley. RIMIS was designed so that agencies can receive real-time messages about incidents, construction and maintenance activity, and special events that impact highways and transit. For a typical incident or event, a traffic operations center operator will input, via pull-down menus, the incident location, type of incident, its impact on traffic, and the anticipated duration of the incident. Another feature of RIMIS is the ability to give local responders access to custom "Video Walls" of DOT CCTVs. For example, several local fire departments purchased large video screens and installed them in their fire engine rooms. Before going out on a call, they can check their RIMIS Video Wall for best access to a scene or to ensure that they are bringing the correct equipment with them. In addition to providing situational awareness and up-to-date information accessible to all responders, the RIMIS system also functions as a data collection mechanism, amassing a wealth of data about both the incidents that occur throughout the region as well as the response to them. This data can be used as a basis for identifying needs and creating long-term performance measures, which are an increasingly important factor in funding allocation decisions, as well as validating the need for ongoing program funding during periods of budget reduction. At present, personnel from nearly 60 entities are using the system and DVRPC will continue to roll out the RIMIS program in areas of the region not currently being served. Entities using the system at present include: Toll road authorities Pennsylvania and New Jersey DOTs Regional/County 9-1-1 Centers Office of Emergency Management Centers County Traffic Operation Centers Local fire, police, EMS Bridge authorities Department of Environmental Protection Public Works Departments For more information, contact Laurie Matkowski, Manager, Office of Transportation Operations Management, at 215-238-2853 or lmatkowski@dvrpc.org; or visit www.dvrpc.org/Operations/RIMIS.htm Sources: Laurie Matkowski, "Incident Management in the DVRPC Region," presentation, The State of the Practice: Putting Information into the Hands of the Practitioners, Friday, June 15, 2012. Also, DVRPC Web site, Regional Integrated Multi-Modal Information Sharing Project web page. www.dvrpc.org/Operations/RIMIS.htm