Managing Travel for Planned Special Events

Chapter Three. Overview
Page 7 of 8

Day-of-Event Activities  

Day-of-event activities focus on the daily implementation of the traffic management plan in addition to traffic monitoring. The traffic management team represents a distinct stakeholder group charged with executing the traffic management plan and modifying the plan as warranted by real-time conditions on the day-of-event. Team organization includes agency representatives stationed at a central command post, at secondary command posts, at a permanent TMC, and at strategic locations in the field for traffic control and observation. The traffic management team generally functions under a formal management process, namely the Incident Command System, to ensure successful traffic management plan deployment and minimal impact to transportation system users. Traffic monitoring provides traffic and incident management support in addition to performance evaluation data. Timely deployment of contingency plans developed during the event operations planning phase depends on the accurate collection and communication of real-time traffic data between traffic management team members.

Traffic Management Team

The traffic management team includes not only many of those stakeholders that have been involved during the event operations planning phase, but all those who may be involved for the first time on the day of the event. Table 3-37 lists typical stakeholders involved in day-of-event activities.

Stakeholder Roles and Coordination

A planned special event represents a source of non-recurring congestion where, similar to a traffic incident, stakeholders must adopt a formal management process to ensure successful traffic management plan deployment and minimal impact to transportation system users. The Incident Command System can be used to handle traffic management during planned special events. The ICS organizes and coordinates multi-agency response to an incident by establishing responsibilities and lines of authority. An Incident Commander has overall responsibility for managing the planned special event.

Command Post

The ICS will most likely be used in a multi-agency command post. The command post will probably be at or near the venue where the planned special event takes place. Depending upon the size of the event, secondary command posts may exist. These secondary command posts may take on specific areas of responsibility, such as law enforcement or traffic control.

In some instances, a permanent TMC may serve as the primary command post. The advantage of using the TMC is that many of the communications resources and other needed tools are already in place.

Advantages of a single command post include: (1) key agencies are represented in a single location and (2) communications among agencies are simplified.

An advantage of secondary command posts is that event management can be more easily switched if a problem develops at the primary command post.

Resource Planning

The plan developed for the resources needed for the event represent the collected best opinion on what is needed. Resource planning involves the following two parts: (1) determining the scope and amount of resources that will be used on the day-of-event and (2) identifying resources in advance in case the traffic management team needs more resources than planned to implement the traffic management plan.

The most important resource that stakeholders must plan for involve personnel resources. Planning considerations include:

• What type and quantity of skilled personnel are needed?
• Where should personnel be deployed?
• What responsibilities will individual personnel have?

Managing Traffic

While the traffic management plan and supporting implementation plan notes how stakeholders expect to manage traffic, the actual management of traffic on the day-of-event may differ from what the plan calls for. Traffic incidents, changing weather conditions, and other unexpected events can all cause the traffic management plan to be modestly modified or completely changed. After safety, successfully managing traffic represents the reason why stakeholders developed the traffic management plan in the first place and that goal must remain paramount.

As part of the traffic management plan, various scenarios can be addressed from best case to worst case, together with likely variations. Having different scenarios and response plans specified in the traffic management plan will help managers more quickly respond to changes. Again, not every variation can be noted, but experienced staff can modify what the traffic management plan calls for.

Evaluation Activities

Although many hours have been spent creating the traffic management plan, the plan should remain flexible with the ability to modify and enhance it with necessary changes based on real-time traffic conditions. Updates can continue through the course of the planned special event, accounting for new situations and unexpected events. Evaluation of the plan is an ongoing activity during the event, and participants should contribute their insights as they witness the event unfolding. The traffic management team must be open to modifications of what had been agreed to during the event operations planning and implementation activities phases.

Table 3-38 indicates key traffic management plan evaluation activities on the day-of-event.

Communication

In most areas of the country, interoperable communications, in which all agencies are able to communicate on a common radio frequency, is not yet a reality. That being the case, it is necessary for a communication structure and protocol to be established. As shown in Table 3-39, the structure should include the noted primary considerations.

Whatever frequency is used, it is important that all those who must use it be able to access the channel and that coverage include all areas where operations will take place.

Another important part of the protocol involves using common language on a multi-agency frequency. An increasing number of agencies are now using clear language protocols on their radio frequencies, and these standards should be followed if multiple agencies have to communicate with one another. Clear language simply says that commonly understood words and phrases are used instead of codes.

Interagency Communication

To minimize confusion and extraneous information being shared among agencies, the question of who will use which frequencies should be decided during the planning process. Stakeholders should understand: (1) how they can reach other traffic management team members during the event, (2) which channels they will be found on, and (3) what information should be shared.

Since many of the stakeholders comprising the traffic management team may not be accustomed to interagency coordination, they should understand the importance of sharing information with their interagency partners. Information not shared with others who are affected could lead to difficulties managing traffic and cause mistrust among participating stakeholders.

Equipment

The participating agencies may normally operate on a wide variety of systems. VHF, UHF, and 800 MHz trunked systems are among those in common use, and agencies cannot normally communicate from one system to another. Before the right equipment can be identified, it is important for the stakeholders to understand what they want the communications system to do. Is it simply a means to share information, or does real-time coordination have to take place? Who has to operate on the channel? Where will they be located? Once these questions are answered, it becomes possible to identify the appropriate equipment to use for the event.

Interacting with the Media

The media may find that the usual means they use to get traffic information are unavailable during the planned special event. Due to security concerns, airspace near the site may be off limits. This makes the media more dependent upon the agencies to provide them with updates.

Unless a proactive decision is made otherwise, most agencies would not want the media to call the command post for updates. Calls to and from the TMC may be the best way to get information to the media. Wherever the media are directed to call, it is important that the person handling those calls has the most up-to-date, accurate information available. For the media to trust this source, they must believe that this is the best place to get information. Since most media want to verify information on their own, agencies should be prepared for the media to seek out other sources. The media may also acquire information via cell phones from event patrons driving to the planned special event, and the media will want to verify the information the public provides with the transportation agencies. If trust is lost between the media and the agencies, the agencies may lose control of the flow of information.

Traveler Information Dissemination

Traveler information will have two important audiences during the event: (1) those who plan to attend and (2) those who want to avoid the delays the event may cause. In both cases, traveler information tools can be used to effectively disseminate information.

On the day-of-event, it must be clear who will update traveler information devices and how timely and accurate information will get to the officials responsible for providing the updates. These individuals must be part of the communication chain. Assigning a dedicated person to handle the updates would be ideal. Conflicting priorities could result in out-of-date information being disseminated if one person is asked to handle too many tasks.

Traffic Monitoring

Agencies responsible for managing planned special events require numerous types of information on the current conditions of the system to support delivery of effective service for the planned special event. This required information varies widely depending on: (1) the service being provided, (2) how often it needs to be collected, and (3) how accurate it needs to be.

In a traffic management system, the traffic monitoring component, or surveillance component, is the process in which data is collected in the field. This data is used to supply information about conditions in the field to other system components including personnel located in the field on the day-of-event.

The information collected through the monitoring effort is valuable for post-event activities. After the event, the information gathered and/or observed can be used as part of the program or event evaluation. The data collected provides: (1) input into estimating the benefits of the traffic management plan and operation and (2) input into planning for future planned special events.

Performance Evaluation Data

Performance measures provide the basis for identifying the location and severity of problems (such as congestion and delay), and for evaluating the effectiveness of the implemented planned special event management strategies. In essence, performance measures are used to measure how the transportation system, and therefore the traffic management plan, performs with respect to the adopted goals and objectives, both for ongoing management and operations of the special event and the evaluation of future options.

In managing travel for planned special events, a direct relationship exists between the performance measures selected and the data needed in the performance measurement process. The data and information used in decision-making must be of high quality because the remedies have to be performed immediately. They must originate from reliable, consistent sources and meet the needs of the decision makers. Moreover, the decision makers must have confidence in the information, or it will not be used.