Would you like traffic incident response services with that?

If the trend towards road user charging continues then that relationship and providing quality customer service will require a significant change in focus for these agencies.

Road agencies have limited opportunities for a direct relationship with their customers, the road users, not like toll road operators.

Two of the major challenges facing road agencies will be dealing with traffic congestion, and securing funding – hence the growing interest in congestion charging. Traffic incidents can have major impacts, resulting in gridlock for hours. Congestion is not only growing, it is becoming more volatile as well.

So what can be done?
A combination of managing existing infrastructure more efficiently through active traffic and incident management, adding more capacity and moderating demand through price and non-price measures.

Direct road user charging is only utilised for toll roads. Market forces already determine a number of the services we consume, including telephone, internet access, energy and water supply. Extending user charging to road use seems inevitable.

The challenge when a ‘user’ pays for a service is they expect higher levels and quality of service – customer service. Private toll road operators already understand the importance of providing a high level of service to their customers to ensure patronage growth.

A step in the direction of developing that relationship between a road operator and road users and building a positive image or brand is providing incident response services.

The public sector operated Florida Turnpike in the US and the Highways Agency in the UK and private operators such as Transurban on their Citylink toll road in Melbourne are examples of road operators that have moved in this direction.

Providing traffic incident response services is an ideal mechanism to provide a very positive image of helping stranded motorists or road users caught up in traffic queues – a win-win situation all round.

Using traffic incident response services to build positive customer relationships with road users, increases the level and quality of service and provides a pathway for the introduction of road user charging. Worth considering in the search for congestion mitigation measures.

Would you like traffic incident response services with that?

Traffic Incident Response Practices in Europe

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration released a report that includes recommendations to improve traffic incident response in the United States.

The recommendations are based on an April 2005 scanning tour on traffic incident response practices, procedures, and technologies of England, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden that assessed and evaluated various practices for responding to traffic incidents.

The recommendations are organised under the three primary themes of programs and institutions, tactical and on-scene management, and communications and technology.

Effective response to traffic incidents can enhance safety and mobility for both road users and responders. During its study, the scan team observed several common attributes among the organizations in each country involved with incident response.

They include a national authority with responsibility for coordinating incident response, national transportation agencies with traffic patrols that respond to incidents, clear jurisdictional responsibility for the police authority responding to incidents in an area, coordinated training for all major incident responders, and national auto clubs that provide roadside repair and towing services.

The team developed 25 recommendations for potential implementation in the United States. They include adopting a national goal for incident response, developing national guidance on incident response performance measures, and establishing Transportation Operations Centers of Excellence for incident response research.

View Traffic Incident Response Practices in Europe online

Best Practices for Traffic Incident Management in Florida

Florida Department of Transportation released a report in 2005 that examines traffic incident management programs, procedures, and techniques from throughout the US and within Florida; summarises lessons learned and best practices; identifies suitable performance measures for incident management programs; and recommends overall program improvements for application in Florida.

The report documents the best practices currently being used in incident management. Among these practices are the following:
• Road Ranger service patrols
• Co-location of agencies in traffic management centers
• Statewide and regional traffic incident management teams
• Written “Open Roads Policy” with a stated time goal
• Roadway Incident Scene Clearance program
• Traffic Management Vehicle
• Severe Incident Response Vehicle
• Interim Traffic Management System
• 5-1-1 Motorist information systems
• Photogrammetry for incident investigation

The findings of this report have broader application to any jurisdiction considering improving traffic incident management.

Report prepared by the Center for Urban Transportation at the University of Southern Florida for Florida DoT. Download report (31 pages, PDF, 0.4MB)

Quick Clearance Toolkit Website

The I-95 Corridor Coalition has developed a Quick Clearance Toolkit website that includes links to material and videos designed to help jurisdictions initiate or improve quick clearance programs.

The material includes a roadmap for developing a traffic incident management program designed to help provide policy makers and practitioners in traffic incident management with ready-to-use tools to assist them in providing more effective traffic incident management practices with primary emphasis on quick clearance.

The toolkit is designed for use by multiple disciplines.

http://www.i95coalition.org/quick-clearance-toolkit.html

Tabletop Exercise Instructions for Planned Events and Emergencies

The US Federal Highway Administration has released a guide designed to help in conducting tabletop exercises to test the effectiveness of transportation management plans associated with planned special events. The guide may also be helpful in the management of unplanned incidents including traffic incidents and responses to emergencies.

When planned special events are held, they generally increase traffic demands in or near the location of the event. In order to address this influx of traffic, transportation management plans are developed with the intent of minimizing the effect the event has on the transportation system.

For a transportation management plan to be successful, however, it is strongly recommended that the plan be tested and reviewed prior to the event. One of the most effective ways to test a transportation management plan is through a tabletop exercise.

A tabletop exercise uses the transportation management plan as the basis for action. It enables participants to role play in a scenario-based exercise conducted in an informal stress-free environment.

During this low cost/low stress activity, key stakeholders involved in the planning and implementation of transportation management plans test the plan through a facilitated scenario based discussion.

Tabletop exercises allow traffic management team officials to review the effect of certain event-specific action plans on other concurrent events. Through this interaction, contingencies are vetted and resolved. In addition, a tabletop exercise can be used to train and familiarize personnel with their roles and responsibilities within the planned special event’s transportation management plan.

No matter how thorough a transportation management plan may be, it can not account for all contingencies.

The purposes of a tabletop exercise are to (1) test the written assumptions in the transportation management plan and (2) see what must be changed and how the plan can be improved. The tabletop exercise allows the participants to see how they react to unexpected events such as equipment failure or personnel shortages.

Though originally designed for planned special events, the information in the guide can be used for the management of unplanned incidents including traffic incidents and responses to emergencies.

A copy of the guide [23 page, PDF, 160KB] is available from: http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/tabletopexercpe/tabletopexererc_pse.pdf

Traffic Incident Management: Best Practice

The Austroads Improving Traffic Incident Management project involves a review of traffic incident management in major urban regions across Australia and New Zealand.

The fifth and final report released in July 2007 provides a brief overview of all aspects of traffic incident management, including planning, institutional issues, evaluation and performance review and capability development, as well as all operational aspects, including detection, verification, response, site management, investigation and clearance, traffic management and traveller information. It identifies recommended practices that may be suitable for wider application.

Download the free report from Austroads [Report AP-R304/07, 60 page PDF, 0.5MB]

Microsimulation as a Planning, Operations and Training Aid for Incident Management

The fourth report of Austroads Project Improving Traffic Incident Management published in January 2007 investigates the appropriateness of microsimulation modelling for the planning, operation and training of incident management in a road network.

The methodology for this study includes a literature review and a modelling case study of the West Gate Freeway in Melbourne.

A microsimulation model was set up using AIMSUN NG for the study area. It is concluded that significant resources are required in setting up a microsimulation model for incident analysis.

Once set up and calibrated, the model is a useful tool for the planning, operation and training of incident management and other complex traffic applications.

Download the free report from Austroads [Report AP-R299/07, 44 page PDF, 2.1MB]

Improving Traffic Incident Management: Evaluation Framework

The third report of Austroads Project Improving Traffic Incident Management published in January 2007 provides an evaluation framework to assess priorities for new alternatives in traffic incident management (TIM).

It involves a literature review of relevant evaluation approaches followed by application to three case studies.It was found that benefit costs analysis (BCA) provides for a comprehensive framework to include benefits, cost and impacts that can be monetised.

It was also found that multi criteria analysis (MCA) is best regarded as an adjunct to BCA. It is a means of coping with a partial BCA - one that fails to provide a dollar value for significant impacts.

MCA offers much in terms of information about a TIM project, because the criteria used are transparent and can be presented in a form suitable for decision makers and the stakeholders.

It is recommended that the evaluation framework for TIM projects use a modified MCA approach, incorporating a BCA, to take into account all the other impacts, including qualitative and non-monetisable impacts.

Download the free report from Austroads [Report AP-R298/07, 77 page PDF, 0.62MB]

Review of Current Traffic Incident Management Practices

Austroads released the second report from its Improving Traffic Incident Management project. The project involves a review of traffic incident management in major urban regions across Australia and New Zealand and is designed to identify innovative practices that may be suitable for wider application, as well as provide a benchmark for ongoing improvement.

This report reviewed current traffic incident management practices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, to identify successful practices and challenges or gaps in current practices that could lead to improvements in the management of traffic incidents.

The assessment covered program and institutional issues (strategy and programs, resourcing, performance measurement, institutional arrangements), operational issues (procedures for major incidents, responder and motorist safety, response and clearance policies and procedures) and communication and technology issues (integrated inter-agency communications, transport management systems and traveller information).

The methodology used was similar to the US Federal Highways Administration's traffic incidnet management self-assessment approach.

Download the free report from Austroads [Report AP-R297/07, 60 page PDF, 0.34MB]

Improving Traffic Incident Management: Literature Review

Austroads released a literature review report in January 2007 from its Improving Traffic Incident Management project. The project involves a review of traffic incident management in major urban regions across Australia and New Zealand and is designed to identify innovative practices that may be suitable for wider application, as well as provide a benchmark for ongoing improvement.

It could be argued that literature on traffic incident management seemed to fall into two categories; one associated with the management of traffic incident management programs and the other associated with enabling technologies such as detection and modelling.

It can be concluded from the available material that the literature on management issues originate mainly from practitioners and consultants who facilitate these managerial processes as well as having to deal with the actual on site management of traffic incidents, while the technological issues of traffic management are researched by academics.

As such, practitioners have to deal with management of operational activities, institutional relationships and also make decisions on technological issues involving incident detection, resources for clearance and recovery, traffic management and information dissemination to the public.

Download the free report from Austroads [Report AP-R296/07, 56 page PDF 0.4MB]