Road Weather Management Program
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Best Practices for Road Weather Management Version 2.0

Title:

Integration of Emergency and Weather Elements into Transportation Management Centers

Abstract:

Integration as applied to transportation management and operations is a concept that reflects how Transportation Management Center (TMC) operators, agencies internal to the TMC, external agencies and support systems interact to improve transportation operations, safety, security and customer satisfaction. The TMC Integration study documents how weather and emergency information and systems are being integrated into transportation operations now and the potential for applying practical, effective concepts and methods of integration in the future. Thirty-eight TMCs across the country that demonstrated current best practices in integration were interviewed and ten of those selected for site visits. As a generalization, TMC operators tend to be more responsive and take action based on their observations of traffic flow rather than responding directly to weather information. TMC personnel frequently lack critical weather information and the needed procedures to incorporate weather information into effective decision-making to improve the efficiency of traffic operations. Benefits of integration were presented, best practices described, and recommendations offered for how weather and emergency integration in TMCs could be initiated or enhanced.

Source(s):

Battelle, Prepared for FHWA, Publication No. FHWA-HOP-06-090

http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/weather/resources/publications/tcmintegration/index.htm

Date: 2006

Author:

Cluett, et al

Keywords:


Institutional issues
Benefits
Traffic Management
Emergency Management

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