Integrating Computer-Aided Dispatch Data with Traffic Management Centers

Chapter 2. Sharing Data to Improve Traffic Incident Management

Incident Data

Public safety agencies, and particularly law enforcement, collect a wide range of data, both real-time and historical. While a computer-aided dispatch (CAD) event is active, data is dynamic and updated continuously to capture time stamp and additional details as they become available. Time-based data from public safety agencies is viewed as the most accurate depiction of incident events and activities. Modern CAD systems can integrate location-based data, such as caller location (using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) capabilities and linking to cell phone tower locations²), and apply Artificial Intelligence capabilities, including audio analysis, speech-to-text, automatic call/incident categorization, and other functions. There are tools within today’s CAD systems that help to supplement operator interactions and data entry, such as automatically populating standard data fields. These tools can also be used to better understand key words and phrases used by callers, as well as generate detailed trend and analysis reports based on incident types, incident locations, and other parameters.

The CAD systems are rarely standalone communications tools, and they are typically linked within a broader suite of Record Management Systems (RMS) that includes crash reporting, evidence management, external database queries, mobile data device systems, and other functions. These systems usually offer some degree of customization to meet specific agencies and data fields needed.

Public safety CAD can provide such a wealth of timely and accurate incident data that stakeholders seek ways to better share and use that information, specifically with transportation data systems, like Advanced Traffic Management Software (ATMS) used in Traffic Management Centers (TMC). ATMS systems are analogous to public safety CAD, just with a transportation angle. Systems used by transportation agencies are also event-based, extensively using location and time data elements to coordinate activities, but primarily limited to roadways.

Incident Data Standards and Data Interoperability

In addition to agency-written CAD programs, there are dozens of different vendors that provide and support CAD and RMS systems for public safety agencies. Voluntary data standards and specifications can help provide a common platform of functionality and support interoperability, such as center-to-center communications, including those operated by State Departments of Transportation (DOT). Standards help to promote consistent data formats and structures, and support greater automation of data queries and improve automated data sharing processes, thereby limiting the amount of customized or proprietary data integration and management that would otherwise be required. Using standards helps promote both cost and resource efficiencies. CAD standards efforts that are improving data access, storage and data management efficiencies for law enforcement agencies include:

• The United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) led efforts to define standards and specifications for CAD and law enforcement Records Management Systems (RMS) through the Law Enforcement Information Sharing Program (LEISP) and the Law Enforcement Information and Technology Standards Council (LEITSC). The USDOJ program was to advance the ideals of data sharing and the council was a grant-funded committee to execute guidance.
• While the LEITSC standards are not mandatory, they further the USDOJ objectives and information sharing mandates. Criminal justice organizations have embraced national data exchange standards for law enforcement, to promote data sharing and consistency across critical law enforcement information systems. These efforts resulted in the Standard Functional Specifications for Law Enforcement Computer-Aided Dispatch Systems,³ which serves as a basis for CAD system development.
• The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) has established CAD standards, known as the Multi-Functional Multi-Discipline Computer-Aided Dispatch Minimum Functional Requirements, which identify the minimum functional requirements that a CAD system shall include. In the 2015 APCO CAD standards, there are no specific requirements or considerations for transportation uses and needs related to a CAD system.⁴

The transportation community has also been active in developing standards to promote data sharing and interoperability. Standards that are relevant to Traffic Incident Management (TIM) include:⁵

• The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), created a group of standards known as the Common Incident Management Message Sets for Use by Emergency Management Centers, which provides a set of basic messages, fields, and information to describe traffic incidents, closures, traffic control equipment and other relevant details.⁶
• The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) has established the Traffic Management Data Dictionary (TMDD) for center to center communications⁷, which facilitates data sharing between centers (such as CAD systems and TMC operating systems).
• The National Transportation Communications for Intelligent Transportation System Protocol (NTCIP) provides rules, protocols, and a standard vocabulary for several standards for how objects are to be defined and how information can be communicated and shared between systems.

Key Benefits of Sharing Computer-Aided Dispatch Incident Data

Sharing CAD data can be mutually beneficial for public safety and transportation operations, and has been shown to reduce time to respond to and clear incidents and reduce risk of secondary crashes. The primary benefit of reducing incident response and duration times is the improved safety for and reduced risk to responders, including law enforcement, fire, emergency medical, transportation operations and tow operators. Specific benefits cited by several case studies⁸ show demonstrated improvements to safety, reduction in incident clearance time, and improved resource efficiency, including:

• Oregon DOT (ODOT) calculated a 30 percent reduction in incident response time and a 38 percent reduction in incident duration after implementing integrated data sharing and coordination procedures with the Oregon State Police.
• ODOT also found that, after integrating their TMC systems with the law enforcement CAD system, there was a 60 percent reduction in the number of calls to which ODOT TMC operators had to respond, which allowed them to have more time monitoring and coordination procedures with the Oregon State Police.
• Eighty-eight percent of crashes in the Virginia DOT (VDOT) traffic management system now come from State Police CAD. Without integrated CAD information, VDOT would be unaware of or far behind on most crashes on VDOT’s roadways.
• In metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, a data sharing arrangement between Phoenix and Mesa Fire agencies shares arterial incident data through a CAD data feed to a regional data management system. Agencies report that they now have access to real-time information for over 90 percent of incidents impacting arterial roadways in the metro area.

Chapter 4 provides additional details on key benefits of CAD integration and data sharing.

Relevant Data for Transportation Operations

Data within public safety CAD systems is generally robust and covers a wide range of incidents and call types. Transportation operating agencies, and TMCs in particular, are not typically interested in those incidents that do not directly relate to traffic or road impacts, so the amount of data sought by transportation agencies is a fraction of what is contained within the CAD systems. Transportation operating agencies are primarily interested in the following types of data:

• Location of incident (road, direction, milepost, interchange or other geographic identifier).
• Time an incident is reported and verified.
• Responders and arrival times (including response agencies and towing).
• Incident details (incident type, severity).
• Updates to incidents as the response unfolds.
• Lane blockage and when lanes are opened.
• Secondary crashes that occur near the primary incident.
• Time(s) responders leave.

Public safety dispatchers gather this information from 9-1-1 callers, on-scene personnel, and allied agencies. Automated data types assigned in CAD include location, incident type, creation time, dispatch, arrival, and clearance times of the units to which the CAD owning agency is connected. Information such as lanes blocked, lanes cleared and secondary crashes require a manual entry and will not be automatically logged unless entered by a dispatcher or an officer in the field. Law enforcement CAD will not include data from other agencies about arrivals, on-scene response activities or clearance times; that information will be captured in that responding agency’s corresponding CAD system. Unless there is a CAD-to-CAD interface to share that data, it will not be integrated with law enforcement CAD data.

Dispatchers update CAD systems as the incident is managed and until it is cleared. Information about any potential support resources from the State DOT, such as service patrol, hazardous materials (HAZMAT) or other response teams could be relayed and requested from on-scene personnel and could be transmitted via a CAD message or through direct request from field personnel or dispatch centers to TMC staff.

Information from CAD can also be valuable post-incident, in that it provides an important record of the incident and its impacts. Minnesota DOT noted that it uses CAD data to retrieve case numbers for incidents that cause damage to State property. This information is helpful for any insurance information or restitution billing needs.

The TIM timeline, shown in figure 1, identifies the chronology of a traffic incident from when an incident occurs until the time when traffic conditions return to normal. Along the timeline are milestones, including T0 (incident occurs) through T6 (traffic conditions return to normal). The goal of TIM is to shorten the duration between T0 and T6. Incident data sought by transportation agencies aligns with the TIM timeline.

Methods for Sharing Incident Data

There are many ways that agencies can share CAD data. This section describes the levels of incident notifications and CAD data sharing as a function of how it is shared, from a simple phone call to advanced approaches that move data between systems without human intervention. Figure 2 shows the range of methods for sharing incident data between public safety agencies and TMCs, from basic to advanced. The corresponding sections that follow provide a description.

Level 1

TMC operators are notified of incidents through manual methods, such as a call from a public safety dispatch center or an email alert. Level 1 also includes TMC being made aware of an incident through monitoring public safety communications radios. This method can result in inconsistent notifications, and there could be a delay in obtaining information of the incident, which leads to delay in notifying travelers or dispatching State DOT support resources. At this level, incident updates also are provided (or monitored via radio) and updated manually. TMC operators translate the information that is being provided dispatchers or interpreted from radio communications and enter the information into TMC software to generate an incident event within CAD.

Level 2

TMC operators have access to a CAD data feed, which could be through a dedicated computer screen or terminal, or a windowed viewer. In some instances, there is a CAD terminal in the TMC but viewing is limited to law enforcement personnel who can then relay notifications to TMC operators. In other instances, the TMC operators can view a filtered data feed that does not include any sensitive incident information. This process relies on co-located communications between on-site officers and TMC operators, or on TMC operators to actively check for incidents and updates. TMC staff must enter information into TMC software to generate an incident event.

Level 3

CAD data is sent to the TMC and will appear as an alert that the operator needs to acknowledge. This eliminates the need for operators to check a separate window or system for incident alerts or incident updates, but still requires operator action, depending on how the TMC software is configured. TMC staff is typically required to copy and paste relevant CAD details to create an ATMS event. Systems might be configured to automatically interpret some of the fields, such as displaying incident location on a map of assets such as dynamic message signs (DMS).

Level 4

At this level, the existing traffic management software brings in CAD data with minimal operator action or intervention. Delay between the incident being reported to police and shared with the TMC is minimal. Again, the TMC software may display incident details automatically as alerts or on status maps to assist operators in responding. As the incidents are updated in CAD, details may be automatically shared and updated with TMC systems. In some cases, such as in Minnesota, the TMC can serve as an allied agency with (limited) access to CAD, and the ability to create and manage events within CAD. This option limits the potential for errors or missing data.

Traffic Management Center Functions that Rely on Traffic Incident Management Data

TMCs are hubs for real-time information about the transportation network. They house a wide range of systems that enable real-time monitoring of systems and roadways, allow operators to enter and track information on planned and unplanned closures, and these systems enable operators to control various intelligent transportation system (ITS) devices, such as closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras and DMS. The typical role of a TMC is also to facilitate notifications, coordinate among agencies and distribute alerts through traveler information systems.

During traffic incidents, TMCs serve a critical function in verifying incidents, assessing impacts to the road network, dispatching State DOT resources (such as incident response teams, hazardous materials crews or safety service patrols), and disseminating information to warn other travelers. A TMC is often responsible for issuing notifications to other agencies and services about the incident and its impacts. TMCs typically include a grouping of individual workstations where operators can monitor and manage multiple systems. A video wall allows several operators to monitor a network, and if there is an incident at a particular location, this can be displayed on the video wall for broader monitoring by State DOT staff in the TMC. Figure 3 shows a typical TMC workstation in an operations room.

Access to real-time incident data is critical to many TMC functions. Because the majority of incidents are initially detected through 9-1-1 calls, the initial incident notification will set a series of processes into motion at the TMC. These processes include TMCs assessing what types of State DOT resources could be needed to support incident response and clearance, assisting the primary responder agency with confirming incident locations, and which alerts and notifications to send to agencies and other motorists through traveler information tools like 5-1-1, social media and traditional media outlets. Other key incident details that enable faster and more effective incident response processes at TMCs include:

• Incident location.
• Times responders arrive and leave the scene.
• Type of incident (property damage, injuries, fatality), as this could provide an indicator as to how long the incident might impact travel lanes.
• Debris located in travel lanes.
• Status of incident response and clearance.
• Lanes and direction of impacted lanes.
• Time that lanes are cleared.

These details are important to a wide range of State DOT response processes, and access to continually updated CAD data can improve the quality and accuracy of information with which the TMC is working, limit the need for the TMC to coordinate with busy law enforcement dispatch centers, and enable better resource mobilization of State DOT resources needed to support the incident response. TMC operators that are manually updating information as it unfolds are at risk of not entering pertinent details, missing updates to information, and are already busy monitoring multiple systems during incidents. Integrated CAD data provides a win-win for both public safety and for transportation operations.