Traffic Incident Management Gap Analysis Primer

5. Traffic Incident Management Program within Transportation Operations Program

This chapter examines the manner in which traffic incident management (TIM) programs are implemented within the structure and resources of a typical transportation department.

It begins by presenting information on the process for establishing a TIM program. Then, an overview of the major organizational areas within a typical State Department of Transportation (DOT) that need to be involved in supporting a comprehensive TIM program are identified along with their required roles. The chapter also identifies key transportation operation staff needed to implement and support the program as well as their functional roles. This will help identify the level of involvement of different transportation department staff within the different TIM-related activities, in addition to the new roles and positions that need to be fully dedicated to the TIM program. In order to reinforce the efficiency of the TIM program components, example TIM success story of the New York State TIM program will be presented with more focus on the common elements that can be transferred to other TIM programs.

5.1 Steps for Establishing a TIM Program

Transportation departments typically play a lead role in the establishment and implementation of local/regional TIM programs. Within the transportation departments, it is typically staff assigned to traffic and safety or traffic operations that takes the leadership role in establishing the program.

Chapter 10 of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Freeway Management and Operations Handbook [6] defines an 8-step process for implementing a successful TIM program. The steps are summarized as follows:

• Identify Stakeholders: Critical to the success of a TIM program is the development of a cooperative consensus among the various stakeholders. Therefore the first step is to identify the relevant stakeholders. Once these stakeholders commit to establishing a TIM program, they can sponsor a TIM task force that meets periodically to guide and enhance the program.
• Define the Problem: Before identifying, or selecting a solution, a clear understanding of the severity, impacts, and locations of incident-related problems is required. Problem definition can be accomplished through a combination of data collection, data compilation, brainstorming, and constructive critiques of existing practices.
• Set Goals and Objectives: The TIM Task Force should establish guiding principles for program development. These "guiding principles" most often take the form of a mission statement, backed up by goals and objectives and based on the identified problems. Simply stated, goals and objectives describe what the program is designed to accomplish. Goals and objectives need to be multiagency in scope; not merely the goals and objectives of individual agencies.
• Develop Alternatives: TIM programs consist of many individual practices, tools and infrastructure elements. Based on the goals and objectives, the group can develop alternatives to combine available TIM tools and techniques into program packages for evaluation.
• Evaluate and Select Alternatives: The developed alternatives can be evaluated using high-level estimates of costs, expected benefits of each alternative, and prioritization.
• Implement Alternatives: It is at the point of implementation that mechanisms for resolving many of the issues of incident management must be developed. These issues may include: funding sources, jurisdictional boundaries, operational responsibilities, joint training, field communications, onsite command and approval of alternate routes.
• Reevaluate Alternatives: TIM is an ongoing process, one that must take into account changes in the local operational, technological, political, and funding environment. Effective program evaluation and the subsequent revaluation of alternatives to refocus or refine an existing system require the routine collection of appropriate data (e.g., detection time, response time, clearance time, delay and costs).
• Refine the System: To continuously improve and adapt a TIM program, effective feedback is needed both from upper management and field-level personnel. Genuine communication and coordination on both levels will continue to improve the TIM process, adapt to the area's changing needs and meet the needs of the participating agencies, affected jurisdictions and the motoring public.

Furthermore, the I-95 Corridor Coalition Toolkit for Safe, Quick Clearance [1] contains a more implementation oriented roadmap for developing a TIM program, as follows:

• Establish your baseline – where is your jurisdiction regarding statutes, policies, and procedures? Where does executive leadership stand?
• Identify quick clearance counterparts in each pertinent State/local discipline and contact them. Hold a quick clearance kick-off team meeting to start establishing relationships.
• Identify champions who can encourage the institutionalization of TIM throughout the various disciplines and select/recruit 1-2 to lead the overall effort.
• Identify roles and responsibilities.
• Create an Open Roads policy.
• Maintain frequent update communications with the entire team (e.g., emails and/or conference calls).
• Develop Concept of Operations – National Incident Management System (NIMS)/ National Unified Goal (NUG)-compliant, integrated quick clearance operations.
• Execute operational memorandum of understanding (MOUs).
• Enable interagency communications and information exchange, as applicable, regional/corridor-wide.
• Implement a training and certification program, including NIMS/NUG compliant interdisciplinary training, for all TIM responders.
• Educate the traveling public.
• The finish line – implement multidisciplinary NIMs/NUG-compliant, accredited TIM Team(s) and associated Field Operational Procedures for quick clearance.

5.2 Transportation Operations Organization/Program Overview

As indicated previously, responsibility for establishing and supporting the ongoing operation of a TIM program is typically assigned to a traffic and safety/traffic operations entity within the overall DOT organization. However, the numerous elements of the program make it nearly impossible for these entities to provide the total support needed. Rather, support is needed from a number of other program areas within the organization. Engaging the other program areas not only helps provide the staff effort needed, but also leads to a more effective and stable program since other program areas are involved on an ongoing basis.

There are numerous ways in which State DOTs and traffic and safety/traffic operations entities are organized such that it is nearly impossible to show a “typical” structure. However, within these diverse approaches there are many commonalities that can be identified.

Table 19 identifies functional areas within a State DOT that need to be engaged in TIM as well as the areas in which they can provide support. The functional areas are largely based upon the organization of the New York State DOT case study, presented later in this chapter.

Table 19. Traffic Incident Management Program within Transportation Operations Program

It should be noted that in many cases, State DOTs are not organized to implement the most effective transportation operations programs, including TIM. The FHWA has worked closely with Transportation Research Board (TRB) and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) to develop a series of documents and tools that will help transportation agencies identify what changes in processes and organization are needed to move their operations and management program in the direction of improved effectiveness and efficiency.

A key element of this effort was the development of a specific guidance framework. The framework is called the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) [15] and is based on self-evaluation regarding the key process and institutional capabilities required from a transportation agency (or group of agencies) to achieve effective operations and management.

In order to bring the benefits of the CMM efforts to the TIM practice, FHWA has included a task in their FFY14 Work Program titled “Assess Self-Assessment Tool vis-à-vis Capability Maturity Model Tool & Develop Action Plan”. Under this task the FHWA’s Office of Transportation Management will work with the SHRP2 L06 [16] product to integrate the TIM SA into the SHRP2 CMM products.

5.3 TIM Involvement of Transportation Operations Staff

Just as there is no “one way” to organize for TIM, there is also no “one way” to staff for it. However, it is possible to create a generic staffing pattern and relate that to the TIM development/support roles involved in the program. It is noteworthy that the development of the generic staffing pattern does not specify the number of staff related to the function, and it also assumes that the staff will obtain support from other department entities as described in Table 19. The staffing functions to support TIM within traffic operations is based upon the structure presented in Table 20.

Table 20. Transportation Operations Staff Traffic Incident Management Involvement

Table 21 contains the matrix relationship between TIM activities and the level of effort and support role that the various staffing components provide. In addition, Table 22 replicates a blank copy of the matrix that can be utilized by the readers for their program-specific TIM gap analysis.

Table 21. Traffic Incident Management Activities and Transportation Operations Staff Matrix
(Legend: P = Primary, S = Secondary)

Table 22. Blank Traffic Incident Management Activities and Transportation Operations Staff Matrix
(Legend: P = Primary, S = Secondary)

5.4 Example TIM Success Story – NYSDOT TIM Program

Traffic incidents continue to be an important issue in New York State (NYS) because they are a significant cause of congestion delays that motorists encounter daily. In response to this continuous problem, the NYSDOT fostered the development of a statewide TIM program. In 2008, NYSDOT committed to formalizing the TIM program through the formation of a NYS TIM Steering Committee to oversee the advancement of the program. The NYS TIM Steering Committee consists of stakeholders from various member agencies within NYS who represent incident responders as well as private entities that have a vested interest in TIM. The first organizational meeting was held in Albany, NY in March 2009. Since then, the NYS TIM Steering Committee has continued to meet generally on a bi-monthly basis. Current members of the Committee include:

• Empire State Towing and Recovery Association (ESTRA).
• Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), New York Division.
• Fire Department of New York (FDNY).
• Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Bridges and Tunnels.
• New York State Association of Chiefs of Police (NYSACOP).
• New York State Association of Fire Chiefs (NYSAFC).
• New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) Bureau of Emergency Medical Services (BEMS).
• New York State Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services (NYSDHSES) Office of Fire Prevention and Control (OFPC).
• New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT).
• New York State Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services (NYSDHSES) Office of Emergency Management (OEM).
• New York State Fire Coordinators’ Association (NYSFCA).
• New York State Police (NYSP).
• New York State Sheriffs Association (NYSSA).
• New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA).

Figure 13. Photo. NYSDOT Bi-monthly TIM Steering Committee Meeting. (Credit: VHB)

In addition to this statewide Committee, an Executive TIM Steering Committee was also founded in NYS in 2013. The Executive Committee includes the individuals who are the decision makers from the Steering Committee agencies. This committee has met in 2013 and 2014 at the NYS Executive Summit to discuss the progress of the TIM program throughout the year, and determine what support is needed from the Executive Committee regarding policies and procedures and how these policies/procedures can be implemented within each member’s respective agency.

To assist with the implementation of the overall program a NYS TIM plan was developed in April 2010 to outline the necessary elements and improvements needed to develop and maintain a robust TIM program. Topics outlined in the plan included TIM program goals, roles and responsibilities of TIM stakeholders, current TIM initiatives, and a TIM action matrix.

Figure 14. Photo. NYSDOT TIM Responder Training. (Credit: VHB)

The purpose of this plan was to provide a framework for agencies to organize and conduct current and future incident management efforts, and to evolve these efforts into a formal long-term sustained program. The plan was updated in September 2012 and again in December 2013 to reflect the current thinking of the NYS TIM Steering Committee and the progress made since 2010.

For the continued success of the NYS TIM program, actions were needed to address some of the current issues and gaps. With the support of the NYS TIM Steering Committee, an Action Plan Matrix was developed that organized these issues into the 18 NUG strategies. The purpose of this Action Plan Matrix is to be used as a reporting mechanism to update the status of each issue and who should lead the effort to ensure that any outstanding issue is addressed. Every time the TIM plan has been updated, the matrix has been reviewed and updated periodically for optimum effectiveness.

This TIM plan was one of many accomplishments of the NYSDOT TIM program. Other accomplishments include:

• Formation of NYS TIM Steering Committee, including:
  • NYS TIM Steering Committee Commitment of Cooperation.
  • NYS TIM Steering Committee Charter.
• Formation of NYS Executive TIM Steering Committee.
• Emergency Traffic Control & Scene Management Quick Reference Visor Card.
• Half-Day TIM Training Course for NYSDOT personnel.
• Full-Day TIM Training Course for emergency responders including a tabletop exercise.
• Development of a NYS TIM Self-Assessment Tool.
• Development of a NYS TIM website.

Figure 15. Photo. NYSDOT TIM Team. [17]

There are also a number of initiatives that are in support of NYS TIM efforts including:

• NYS “Move Over” Legislation – Law requires that, when possible, motorists must change lanes when they approach an incident where there is a vehicle with flashing red or amber lights. When it is not possible to move over, or there is only one lane, drivers must slow down. This law includes all responder vehicles as well as any other vehicle being used in the maintenance of roadways.
• Section 15 of the NYS Highway Law – Gives NYSDOT the ability to remove accidents, cargo, and debris from NYS right-of-way that obstructs or interferes with the use of such a highway.
• NYS "Steer it, Clear it" campaign – In lieu of legislation, a “Steer it, Clear it” outreach campaign was developed by the Niagara International Transportation Technology Coalition (NITTEC) and expanded statewide by NYSDOT to encourage motorists to move to the side of a road when they are involved in a minor crash.
• NYS Emergency Traffic Control and Scene Management Guidelines – The NYS TIM Steering Committee adopted guidelines to provide incident responders a uniform approach to emergency traffic control and scene management.
• TIM teams – A local jurisdictional program consisting of TIM stakeholders that work together on a daily basis. TIM teams address operational problems and develop strategies at the local level and then share these ideas and experiences at the regional level.
• Highway Emergency Local Patrol (HELP) Program – Special trucks patrol designated routes stopping to help stranded motorists and disabled vehicles, keeping roads and highways open and free of distractions to minimize the chances of secondary incidents.
• Incident Response Trailers – NYSDOT has deployed about 25 Incident Response Trailers throughout the State in support of TIM. Included in each trailer are items needed to set up a TTC Zone around an incident in accordance with Section 6I of the MUTCD. Items include cones, barrels, barricades, flags for traffic control, and fluorescent pink signs indicating TTC.

Figure 16. Photo. NYSDOT Incident Response Trailer. [17]

• NYS Office of Fire Prevention and Control (OFPC) Incident Management Trailer – These trailers contain the same equipment as the previously mentioned trailers, but in addition also support the command portion in an all hazard, all weather environment. The additional equipment provided includes: tents for weather cover, an office for resource management, computerized tracking, and incident management Incident Action Plans (IAPs), among others.

Figure 17. Photo. NYS Office of Fire Prevention and Control (OFPC) Incident Management Trailer. [17]

Because of the success of the NYS TIM program in a relatively short period of time, the statewide TIM program was awarded the “ITS Project of the Year” in June 2010 by the Intelligent Transportation Society of New York (ITS-NY). Each member of the TIM Steering Committee was presented with an award at the annual ITS-NY meeting.

In addition, the NYS TIM program was also featured in the August 2012 edition of the TIM Network’s The Responder Newsletter under the title “New York State TIM Program Makes Strides Statewide”.

Currently the NYS TIM program is continuing to make strides by tracking their ongoing training and outreach efforts.

Figure 18. Photo. Outstanding ITS Project of the Year award for the NYSDOT TIM Program. (Credit: VHB)

In summary, the NYS TIM program is viewed as a success because of what the State has been able to accomplish in the context of TIM components:

• A statewide strategic plan.
• NYS Emergency Traffic Control and Scene Management Guidelines.
• A “Move Over” law.
• Numerous well developed regional TIM programs.
• An active statewide TIM task force.
• Model partnerships with the State police.
• A statewide service patrol.
• TMCs operational for 24 hours and 7 days a week in most regions.