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

Transportation Management Center Video Recording and Archiving Best General Practices

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United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration

U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
Office of Operations
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590

FHWA-HOP-16-033

March 2016


Table of Contents

Executive Summary

Chapter 1. Introduction and Report Layout

Background

Report Objectives

Sources

Report Organization

Chapter 2. Successful Practices for Recording and Using Video

Uses and Benefits of Recorded Video by Roadway Agencies

Fundamental Recording Policy Question—Always, Sometimes, or Never

Transportation Management Centers that Always Record

Transportation Management Centers that Sometimes Record

Uses of Recorded Video for Security and Law Enforcement

Chapter 3. Successful Practices for Fulfilling Requests for Recorded Video

Decisionmaking Factors and Process, including Changing Policies

Prevalence of Releasing Recorded Video

Procedures for Requesting Recorded Video

Methods of Fulfilling a Video Request

Impacts on Transportation Management Center Staffing Levels

Chapter 4. Successful Practices for Sharing Real-Time Video Images

Benefits of Sharing Video

Constraints, Risks, and Mitigations of Sharing Video

Sharing with Law Enforcement Agencies and Security Groups

Chapter 5. Technology Issues

Key Video Recording Technology Issues

Emerging Technology

Relation to Security and Law Enforcement Uses

Additional Image Documentation Techniques

Video Management System Consideration Checklist

Chapter 6. Legal and Policy Issues including the Freedom of Information Act

Freedom of Information Act

State Public Records Laws and the Necessity of Recording

Video for Use as Evidence

Privacy

Liability

Chapter 7. Practices for Written Policies and Agreements

Prevalence of Written Policies

Overview of Sample Materials

Highlights from Video Recording and Distributing Recorded Video

Highlights from Sharing Real-Time Video

Highlights on Privacy & Interaction with Law Enforcement

Highlights on Legal Issues

Chapter 8. Case Studies

Iowa Department of Transportation

Minnesota Department of Transportation

New Jersey Department of Transportation

Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada

Tennessee Department of Transportation

Washington State Department of Transportation

Wisconsin Department of Transportation

Appendix. Sample Agreements and Policies

Acknowledgments

List of Figures

Figure 1: Chart. Purposes of selective video recordings.

Figure 2: Chart. Recording incoming transportation video feeds.

Figure 3: Chart. For agencies that record most feeds by default, basis for length of recording.

Figure 4: Chart. Length of time agencies that record under limited circumstances keep recordings.

Figure 5: Chart. If recorded video can be requested.

Figure 6: Chart. Burden for responding to requests for recorded video.

Figure 7: Chart. Recipients of shared video.

Figure 8: Screenshot. Composite from wide-angle camera.

Figure 9: Screenshot. Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada screen shot—incident tracking.

Figure 10: Screenshot. Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada screen shots—incident screen capture matrix and data record.

Figure 11: Chart. If existing written policies on video recording and video sharing.

Figure 12: Screenshot. Iowa Department of Transportation Web site for requesting recorded video.

Figure 13: Screenshot. Snapshot of central software used by the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) of Southern Nevada.

Figure 14: Screenshot. Snapshot of image recording feature during incidents within the central software used by the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) of Southern Nevada.

Figure 15: Screenshot. Snapshot of information collected from images within the central software used by the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) of Southern Nevada.

Figure 16: Photo. Screen capture of the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s SmartWay traveler information service.

Figure 17: Screenshot. Presentation slide detailing the benefits of closed-circuit television recording for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), part 1.

Figure 18: Presentation slide detailing the benefits of closed-circuit television recording for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), part 2.

Figure 19: Presentation slide detailing the benefits of closed-circuit television recording for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), part 3.

Figure 20: Sample scan. Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Agreement (page 1 of 2).

Figure 21: Sample scan. Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Agreement (page 2 of 2).

Figure 22: Sample scan. Camera Use Policies (page 1 of 2).

Figure 23: Sample scan. Camera Use Policies (page 2 of 2).

Figure 24: Sample scan. Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) Traffic Camera Imagery Recording and Distribution Policies (page 1 of 2).

Figure 25: Sample scan. Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) Traffic Camera Imagery Recording and Distribution Policies (page 2 of 2).

Figure 26: Sample scan. Policy for the Design and Operation of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) in Advanced Traffic Management Systems (page 1 of 11).

Figure 27: Sample scan. Policy for the Design and Operation of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) in Advanced Traffic Management Systems (page 2 of 11).

Figure 28: Sample scan. Policy for the Design and Operation of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) in Advanced Traffic Management Systems (page 3 of 11).

Figure 29: Sample scan. Policy for the Design and Operation of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) in Advanced Traffic Management Systems (page 4 of 11).

Figure 30: Sample scan. Policy for the Design and Operation of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) in Advanced Traffic Management Systems (page 5 of 11).

Figure 31: Sample scan. Policy for the Design and Operation of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) in Advanced Traffic Management Systems (page 6 of 11).

Figure 32: Sample scan. Policy for the Design and Operation of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) in Advanced Traffic Management Systems (page 7 of 11).

Figure 33: Sample scan. Policy for the Design and Operation of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) in Advanced Traffic Management Systems (page 8 of 11).

Figure 34: Sample scan. Policy for the Design and Operation of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) in Advanced Traffic Management Systems (page 9 of 11).

Figure 35: Sample scan. Policy for the Design and Operation of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) in Advanced Traffic Management Systems (page 10 of 11).

Figure 36: Sample scan. Policy for the Design and Operation of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) in Advanced Traffic Management Systems (page 11 of 11).

Figure 37: Sample scan. Niagara International Transportation Technology Coalition (NITTEC) Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) Policy (page 1 of 1).

Figure 38: Use of Closed-Circuit Television Highway Cameras Guidelines at the Oregon Department of Transportation (page 1 of 1).

Figure 39: Sample scan. Access to Live Video Feeds and Information Sharing Policies (page 1 of 1).

Figure 40: Sample scan. Responder Entity Users Access Agreement for Live Video and Information Sharing (page 1 of 6).

Figure 41: Sample scan. Responder Entity Users Access Agreement for Live Video and Information Sharing (page 2 of 6).

Figure 42: Sample scan. Responder Entity Users Access Agreement for Live Video and Information Sharing (page 3 of 6).

Figure 43: Sample scan. Responder Entity Users Access Agreement for Live Video and Information Sharing (page 4 of 6).

Figure 44: Sample scan. Responder Entity Users Access Agreement for Live Video and Information Sharing (page 5 of 6).

Figure 45: Sample scan. Responder Entity Users Access Agreement for Live Video and Information Sharing (page 6 of 6).

Figure 46: Sample scan. Private Entity Users Access Agreement for Live Video and Information Sharing (page 1 of 5).

Figure 47: Sample scan. Private Entity Users Access Agreement for Live Video and Information Sharing (page 2 of 5).

Figure 48: Sample scan. Private Entity Users Access Agreement for Live Video and Information Sharing (page 3 of 5).

Figure 49: Sample scan. Private Entity Users Access Agreement for Live Video and Information Sharing (page 4 of 5).

Figure 50: Sample scan. Private Entity Users Access Agreement for Live Video and Information Sharing (page 5 of 5).

Figure 51: Sample scan. Video Utilization Agreement (page 1 of 1).

List of Tables

Table 1. Responding agencies to online inquiry.

Table 2: Capability maturity model for Transportation Management Centers that record most feeds continuously (ALWAYS), focusing on processes to retain specific clips beyond the automatic rewriting time.

Table 3: Capability maturity model for Transportation Management Centers that sometimes record video.

Table 4: Select video request procedures.

Table 5: Video management system checklist.

Table 6: List of written materials in the appendix.

Table 7: Transportation Management Center Policies and Procedures at the Iowa Department of Transportation.

Table 8: Transportation Management Center policies and procedures at the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Table 9: Transportation Management Center policies and procedures at the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Table 10: Transportation Management Center policies and procedures at the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) of Southern Nevada.

Table 11: Transportation Management Center policies and procedures at the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

Table 12: Transportation Management Center policies and procedures at the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Table 13: Transportation Management Center policies and procedures at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

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