Integration of Emergency and Weather Elements into TMCs

Executive Summary

Awareness of the effects of weather and emergency events on traffic operations, mobility and public safety has grown substantially in recent years. This study is part of an ongoing FHWA research effort that seeks to document transportation operations across the country and identify strategies that can enhance the operational effectiveness of transportation management systems in general and TMCs in particular. 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. It is a thesis of this study that integration of weather and emergency systems and information into transportation operations, coupled with effective deployment of ITS, will improve performance and offer benefits in increased public mobility, safety and security.

Emergency integration is defined as follows:

In a transportation management setting, emergency integration supports a TMC’s capability to supply information and control transportation assets as needed to prepare for, respond to, and recover from an emergency. Emergency situations include damage to the transportation infrastructure, demand for transport of a population away from a threatened or dangerous location, and the need to provide access for emergency responders to a location.

Weather integration is defined as follows:

Weather integration supports a TMC’s ability to manage traffic, dispatch maintenance forces, and address weather-related emergencies. This is accomplished by providing TMC operators with accurate and timely weather and road condition information, effectively integrating weather and traffic information, and providing automated notifications and decision support.

The study investigated the needs and opportunities for TMC integration of emergency and weather elements and further explored the concepts, methods and potential for integration to benefit operations. Thirty-eight TMCs across the country were contacted (ten visited) that demonstrated current best practices in integration of weather and emergency information and systems. Before concepts and methods of emergency and weather integration could be developed, an integration framework was needed to help the study team understand the complex notion of integration. This framework was established and guided the study team to collect data and organize thoughts about this subject.

TMC integration reflects how TMC operators, agencies internal to the TMC, external agencies and support systems interact to improve transportation operations, safety and security. Integration is a catalyst and a tool for enhancing operational performance and is one of a variety of strategies available to, and used by, TMCs.

The study documents an integration framework, the state of the practice, potential benefits, and challenges of emergency and weather integration. Additionally, several recommendations are made to further the development and deployment of emergency and weather integration in TMCs.

Integration Framework Established

The study established an integration framework in terms of the determinants of integration and the dimensions of integration.

Any given concept of integration is shaped by the following four determinants:

The transportation context within the TMC’s jurisdiction, including the configuration of roadways, various situational constraints on travel, and the mix of modal assets.
The TMC’s exposure to weather or other potential disaster events, including the frequency, complexity and predictability of those events.
The institutional structure and organizational culture in the region, including the number and mix of agencies with transportation or emergency services functions, the types of plans and policies in place describing how to respond to events, and the presence of integration “champions” and institutional support for integration.
Access to resources that can facilitate and support integration, along with an understanding of the existing and available new systems and technologies, staff skills, and funding to support integrated applications.

The overall extent of integration at any TMC can be described in terms of the following five dimensions:

Operational Integration includes the ways in which data and information are shared and used by TMCs and connected agencies, organizations, and systems. The data are used to support traffic operations, integrated control of traffic systems, and shared decision-making with regard to TMC traffic functions. The remaining four dimensions support operational integration and are typically needed for successful operational integration.
Physical Integration represents how the agencies, organizations, and systems are physically linked or collocated for the purpose of sharing data or information in support of traffic operations.
Technical Integration is illustrated in how the data and information are exchanged and shared through physical linkages among people, systems and organizations, both within a TMC and between a TMC and other entities. This data and information exchange can be achieved through a range of means from verbal exchanges to automated electronic exchanges, and decision support systems that integrate available information to enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness.
Procedural Integration describes the development and use of policies, plans and procedures that support an integrated traffic operations in a TMC; the extent to which policies, plans and procedures are written down, made accessible to staff, reflect multi-agency interests and responsibilities, and are tested and reinforced with training and exercises; and, the coordination of policies, plans and procedures across integrated agencies and organizations.
Institutional Integration characterizes the level of commitment and partnership within and between participating organizations and agencies to achieve successful integration; leadership supporting the value of integration, and the willingness of partners to seek to collaborate to solve problems jointly; the clarity with which participant organizations’ roles and responsibilities in support of integrated operations are spelled out and understood; the vertical and horizontal collaboration within and between agencies and organizations in support of TMC traffic operations; and, agreements established among entities to support interaction and integration.

How a TMC operates in its unique environment, in response to the determinants, and how it integrates across the dimensions, defines the concept of integration for that TMC. This integration framework established the foundation for understanding how to characterize emergency and weather integration in TMCs and guided the efforts of the study team to describe current and future integration concepts and methods.

State of the Practice Defined

The state of the practice in emergency and weather integration is illustrated by a set of core integration concepts and associated implementation methods. It was observed that significant differences exist in the implementation of integration concepts between emergency integration and weather integration. Emergency integration exhibited only one integration concept currently in practice with associated implementation methods, while weather integration demonstrated several concepts and implementation methods. The report documents the concepts and methods for emergency and weather integration. These concepts and methods include those currently being demonstrated and those potentially available to TMCs in the future.

A summary of the existing and future concepts for emergency and weather integration are:

Emergency Integration

Emergency integration concepts are divided into three categories of current concept extension, available concepts, and future research, as follows:

Current Concept Extension

Intercenter coordination – collaboration and cooperation based on sharing information to assist management and experienced staff. Additional application would culminate in the operations centers of all organizations active in emergencies being tied together through a network of voice and data connectivity to coordinate their actions

Available Concepts

Operational coordination and training – coordination of operational procedures and practices with other agencies active during emergencies under the National Incident Management System framework
Optimized emergency information integration – implementation of rational and quantitative processes to direct continuous improvement in emergency integration

Future Research

Advanced tool support – development and deployment of system and software tools to provide advice for actions that emergency managers can take to achieve transportation objectives in support of emergency management goals
Federal resources for rapid deployment –a rapidly deployable set of resources that would provide any TMC the ability to field additional ITS components, communication networks, or control center components when an emergency occurs that exceeds local resources

Weather Integration

All of the concepts below are demonstrated in some form in TMCs today:

Weather information coordination – the management of weather information in a TMC and how it is, or may be, integrated.
Continuously available weather information – a method, process or other structure in place at the TMC to bring weather information to the attention of those who can benefit from it. In the future these are expected to be automated, robust processes or structures.
Automated thresholds or escalation notification – an automated notification system that triggers a weather situation alarm to notify operators of a developing and potentially dangerous condition.
Seamless integration of multiple sources and subsystems – primarily a technical approach that assists transportation operators to perform their tasks by automating the manual collation of weather and traffic related information from multiple sources or in disparate forms.
TMC provides the operations center, administration and serves as a clearinghouse for weather information – weather information such as RWIS, ALERT, FEWS, and 511 is in-house in the TMC and readily available at all times to aid with data management and interpretation.
Community awareness between the TMC and weather communities – a form of institutional integration that brings together these two communities and enables the learning and enriched application of weather information use in the TMC.
Decision Support – an evolving integration concept that will in time provide automated support to TMC operators based on a set of proven approaches to assist with transportation operation decision-making during, or prior to, weather events.

Potential Benefits Identified

Benefits will vary depending on the conditions and level of integration at a TMC. Although a comprehensive analysis of the benefit-to-cost of emergency and weather integration has yet to be done in any objective, systematic manner, many observed and anticipated benefits are reflected in existing best practices at TMCs. The following potential benefits may be realized through the deployment of emergency and weather integration:

Direct benefits dependent upon the quality and availability of advisory strategies, available transportation system control actions, and dispatch needs of integrated agencies.
Improved emergency transportation operations through more efficient application of resources.
Improved access to all regional information using compatible, standards-based systems over reliable communication systems.
Ability to coordinate and pool resources to accomplish operations not currently possible.
Improved clarity of roles and ability to communicate both in current operations and in future investments.
Improved cost effectiveness through reduction in need to deploy duplicate resources.
Quicker response to emergencies to clear roads, provide or move resources, and implement evacuation plans.
More efficient evacuation activities through integration of traffic operations tools, strategies, and procedures.
Improved public safety through reduced incidents resulting from more effective application of traffic management strategies that incorporate emergency and weather information.
A common focal point for TMC-related agencies enhancing institutional, procedural, and operational integration.
More timely and accurate information provided to the traveling public, thereby increasing customer safety and satisfaction.
More efficient winter road maintenance operations by providing information, including Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and Advanced Transportation Management Systems (ATMS) generated traffic and road condition information, to support treatment strategies.
Better prepared TMC operators to address adverse weather on the transportation system in terms of appropriate staffing and implementation of traffic advisories and control strategies.

Many of these benefits were observed in TMCs by the study team. The TMCs that have implemented various emergency and weather integration concepts and methods (to achieve these potential benefits), did so by overcoming significant challenges.

Challenges Identified

The implementation of emergency and weather related integration comes with its own challenges. The approaches taken to implement these types of integration were specific to the needs of the region or state. Not surprisingly, the challenges were also specific to the needs of a particular TMC. This report addresses some of the challenges that might be faced by a TMC interested in emergency or weather integration. A list of these possible challenges includes:

Emergency Integration

Lack of strategic vision. Decision-making by agencies with disparate goals in the absence of a strategic vision results in tactical progress and unintegrated operations without uniform direction toward improved emergency operations and the infrastructure necessary to accomplish those improvements
Access to traffic control strategies and devices. State DOT TMCs have limited access to electronically controllable traffic control devices such as traffic signals and lane use signals that can be used to respond to emergencies, especially when the emergency initiates a spike in traffic demand.
Unique transportation context. Each TMC exists in a unique institutional framework involving jurisdictional boundaries, governmental organization, private organizations, operational policies and local and state laws.
Lack of national-level TMC coordination. TMCs across the country view themselves as fitting into a blend of three core functions: information clearinghouse, operations center, and/or emergency manager. The unique approaches to operations and integration contained in each TMC are not easily shared with other TMCs that may be facing similar issues, and there is a lack of organizational structures to facilitate such exchanges.
Consensus decision-making. In the setting of a public agency, the loss of ability to act independently can significantly delay actions that a single agency would initiate immediately, and unwillingness to compromise can prevent the possibility of cooperation.
Lack of reliability in legacy systems. Existing systems are not always designed to be robust with the occurrence of component failures or emergency situations.
Data security and privacy requirements. The legitimate data security concerns of law enforcement and homeland security organizations complicate the already difficult problems in data sharing.
Lack of benefits data and mature measures of effectiveness. In competing for budget and institutional resources, emergency transportation operations integration suffers from a lack of perceived benefit.
Licensing restrictions on proprietary products. Integration between centers using systems that are proprietary potentially faces licensing issues in sharing client software and access to custom protocols.
Differing legal bases for cooperating agencies. When centers cooperate with centers representing other agencies, legal barriers and potential liabilities arise due to the roles and legislated protection given to each organization.
Lack of sustained investment in emergency transportation. Once a region has either experienced an emergency with serious transportation impact or observed a nearby emergency, the planning and integration process takes on significant urgency.
Insufficient funding. All centers identified available funding as a constraint. Most of the funding constraints limited staffing for either operational, management, or engineering activities.

Weather Integration

Lack of national-level TMC coordination. The challenge regarding the lack of mechanisms and organizational structures to facilitate coordination and communication was discussed under emergency integration above.
Recognizing opportunities for weather integration and building support to address them. In most TMCs weather integration is not a focus of the center, and many opportunities to enhance capabilities are not acted upon.
Lack of awareness of the use of weather information in traffic operations and integration opportunities. Few TMCs are aware of how weather information may be used in traffic operations. The TMCs that successfully overcame this challenge did it by understanding how different weather conditions affected their transportation system and management approaches.
Access to traffic control strategies and devices. State DOT TMCs have limited access to electronically controllable traffic control devices such as traffic signals and lane use signals that can be used to respond to weather events, especially when the weather event suggests adjustments to such control devices to facilitate traffic demand.
Reliance on non-robust systems and information sources. Except in a few highly integrated TMCs, much of the weather information used by TMCs is non-transportation specific information generated for broad public consumption and is received over the Internet from the World-Wide Web or cable television.
Variations in the determinants of integration. Various determinants of integration for a particular region or state including transportation context, exposure to events, institutional structure and climate, and access to resources have large variations from one jurisdiction to another which could drive the different solutions.
Limited national experience with TMC weather information integration. There is very limited and disparate experience nationally to use as examples to illustrate the benefits of weather integration.
Understanding the benefits of weather integration versus the costs of implementation. The cost of weather integration was expressed as a challenge by almost all the TMCs contacted. TMCs have found it difficult to show justification for the allocation of scarce funds for weather integration.
Need for the National ITS Architecture to better reflect the emerging use of surface transportation weather in transportation applications. The National ITS Architecture (NITSA) is an important tool to facilitate and organize ITS integration activities in a TMC. Integration of weather information at a TMC goes beyond the present representation within the current version of the National ITS architecture where weather is identified as a terminator supporting the NITSA. To have the full benefit of weather information within the NITSA, the formation of additional market packages that more closely integrate weather information with operations and decision support are needed.

Recommendations Made To Enhance Emergency Integration

Six recommendations are made to enhance emergency integration in TMCs. They are documented in detail in this report and summarized below.

Extend the current concept of collaboration and coordination to comprehensive coverage of agency centers and information - TMCs should expand information sharing to a network including operations centers of all organizations active during emergencies, including the return to normal operations.
Improve coordination capabilities of traffic and emergency operation staffs - TMCs should develop interagency operations procedures and participate in joint education and training covering response to incidents of all scopes under the National Incident Management System framework
Develop quantitative measures of emergency integration and emergency operations - To make rational decisions and discuss trade offs for use of limited resources, decision makers need quantitative terms for use in analyzing the benefits of emergency integration. MOEs should be developed that address effectiveness of integration, effectiveness of operations, and risk exposure for the emergency transportation need.
Establish an optimal level of integration at each TMC and in each region - TMCs should rationalize the process of establishing increased levels of integration.
Develop advanced decision support tools for emergency transportation operations - FHWA should sponsor research into advanced tools to assist emergency transportation managers in making strategic and tactical decisions.
Develop emergency resources available for rapid deployment - FHWA should sponsor research into development of assets available for rapid deployment when needed in a region experiencing an emergency situation.

Recommendations Made to Enhance Weather Integration

Nine recommendations are made to enhance weather integration in TMCs. They are documented in detail in this report and summarized below.

Create an institutional culture within the TMC that is aware of weather information and how it can be used to improve operations - TMC’s should establish a weather operations advisory committee or designate an individual as the weather information coordinator.
Provide awareness-building and training for TMC management regarding the benefits of targeted/tailored weather information in TMC operations - It is recommended that outreach, education materials and training be provided to increase the awareness of targeted/tailored weather information sources, tools, and integration of best practices/techniques.
Conduct a TMC weather information use self-assessment program and develop an integration plan - TMCs should conduct a self-assessment to help identify the most effective integration solutions and guide their deployment.
Develop a set of guidelines to enhance TMC integration of weather information - A set of guidelines should be developed to provide a roadmap of potential integration concepts and methods that could be implemented by TMCs interested in weather information integration enhancements. These guidelines should address all five dimensions of integration (operational, physical, technical, procedural, and institutional).
Improve communications between weather and transportation communities involved in traffic operations - It is expected that improved communications between weather and transportation communities, specifically traffic operations, will result in increased awareness of roles, responsibilities, expectations and limitations of capabilities within each community.
Investigate potential future concepts and methods - Investigation of more appropriate concepts and efficient and effective methods to implement these concepts should be pursued as part of an on-going process to better utilize weather information within TMC operations.
Develop a toolkit to assist in the integration of weather and traffic information sources - Existing software and hardware tools available to support the integration of weather and traffic information should be identified and promoted for use in fostering improved integration activities.
Foster a focused road weather research program supporting TMCs - The future growth of weather integration and utilization within TMC operations will depend not only on the willingness of the TMC personnel to adopt the integration paradigm but also the presence of solutions to existing challenges involving weather conditions. The development of expanded research opportunities will foster a willingness of the research community to address these problems and to transfer the resulting technology to TMCs.
Establish management strategies and rules of practice to support improved operations and enhanced weather integration – Establish management strategies and rules of practice to provide a pathway to improved TMC operations. These become transferable standard operations actions that permit a measure of uniformity in operations across TMCs.

Conclusion

Transportation Management Centers are established across the country to integrate data, information and systems in support of day-to-day traffic (highway and transit) and emergency operations. Each part of the country presents a unique set of challenges to effective TMC integration based on climate, geography, politics, and transportation systems and resources. Depending on the concepts and methods of integration pursued by a TMC, the time and effort required will vary. The ability of TMCs to successfully compete for the limited available funds to support a more integrated approach to operations requires leadership, a supportive institutional environment, and the political will to invest in procedures to accomplish what are perceived to be unclear benefits and, in the case of emergencies, to address infrequent risks.

This study has examined the best examples of TMC integration and described the underlying concepts and methods of integration that are being employed to enhance transportation operations. The practice of weather and emergency integration in TMCs is in its infancy, but the best practices identified in selected TMCs across the country offer examples of the long-term value of an integrated approach to transportation operations that other TMCs can emulate. It is hoped that the lessons learned in this study can help inspire and guide widespread efforts to achieve the benefits of integration in more TMCs in the future.