This page intentionally left blank. Table of Contents List of Acronyms .................................................................................................................... ii I. Executive Summary ............................................................................................................. 1 III. Conference Program .......................................................................................................... 4 IV. Conference Outcomes ........................................................................................................7 Appendix A: List of Conference Participants ................................................................................A-1 Appendix B: Plenary Session Presentations...................................................................................B-1 Appendix C: Conference Discussion Papers...................................................................................C-1 Operational Issues Discussion Papers..................................................................................C-1 Technological Issues Discussion Paper .............................................................................. C-18 Institutional Issues Discussion Paper ................................................................................ C-27 Appendix D: Priority Issues and Actions/Initiatives ........................................................................D-1 Appendix E: Issues and Actions/Initiatives Generated in the Breakout Sessions ......................................E-1 Appendix F: Post-Conference Survey Summary ..............................................................................F-1 Proceedings of the National Conference on Traffic June 2002 Incident Management: A Road Map to the Future Page i List of Acronyms AASHTO American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Caltrans California Department of Transportation CCTV Closed Captioned Television DOT Department of Transportation FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation FEMA Federal Emergency Management Administration FHWA Federal Highway Administration IACP International Association of Chiefs of Police IIMS Integrated Incident Management System IM Incident Management ITS Intelligent Transportation System ITSA Intelligent Transportation Society of America MOU Memorandum of Understanding MUTCD Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices NCHRP 20-6 National Cooperative Highway Research Program “Legal Programs Arising Out of Highway Programs” NCUTLO National Committee on Uniform Traffic Laws and Ordinances NFPA National Fire Protection Association NHTSA National Highway Transportation Safety Administration STIP State Transportation Improvement Program TIM Traffic Incident Management TMC Traffic Management Center TRB Transportation Research Board USDOT U.S. Department of Transportation USDOJ U.S. Department of Justice VMS Variable Message Sign Proceedings of the National Conference on Traffic June 2002 Incident Management: A Road Map to the Future Page ii I. Executive Summary Traffic incidents have a great effect on the safety of responders and on the mobility of the traveling public using our nation’s roadways. They can contribute to responder deaths and injuries, response equipment damage, motorist injuries through secondary crashes, and the cost and time of traffic delay in urban and rural areas. Integrated traffic incident management (TIM) is emerging as a proven solution to address these safety and mobility concerns. Traffic incident management is a planned and coordinated process to detect, respond to, and remove traffic incidents and restore traffic capacity as safely and quickly as possible. It involves the coordinated interactions of multiple public agencies and private sector partners. To develop and advance a national agenda for improved traffic incident management, the National Conference on Traffic Incident Management was held on March 11-13, 2002, at The Beckman Center in Irvine, California. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITSA), and the Transportation Research Board (TRB) sponsored the conference. A steering committee, composed of representatives from the fire and emergency response, law enforcement, towing and recovery, technology, transportation, and user communities, assisted in refining conference goals, developing the program, and soliciting participation within and across their disciplines. The steering committee was led by AASHTO, who along with FHWA, appointed steering committee members, contracted for conference planning and support, and reviewed and approved the content of the proceedings. The conference sponsors invited practitioners and policy level experts from these disciplines to participate. Participants were selected to achieve a balance between urban and rural perspectives; to identify possible “champions” for moving the national agenda forward after the conference; and to involve individuals who could draw upon experience, success stories, and lessons learned in crafting a national agenda. One hundred and sixty- seven professionals participated in the conference to discuss barriers to improving traffic incident management and to identify and prioritize actions that can be taken to address the barriers and opportunities. The National Conference on Traffic Incident Management was organized in three phases. On March 11th, experts presented, in a plenary session, the history, safety, societal impact, and issues associated with traffic incident management from the perspective of police, fire, transportation, and other public and private sector partners. The speakers provided a foundation for attendee participation throughout the rest of the conference. On March 12th, participants discussed, in small groups work sessions, their priority issues for advancing the state of the practice in traffic incident management and recommended actions/initiatives to address these issues. These breakout sessions were divided into three focus areas: Operational Issues, Technological Issues, and Institutional Issues. On March 13th, participants further refined the priority actions and initiatives and began to identify potential next steps to advance the traffic incident management agenda at the national level. Conference participants identified seven overall action items as most important for Most Important Action Items guiding a national agenda for traffic incident management. More than half of the actions Most Important Action Items For Guiding a National Agenda for came from the institutional area, while two technological actions/initiatives were cited For Guiding a National Agenda for Traffic Incident Management for better regional and cross-agency coordination. Important action items were also Traffic Incident Management • Professionalize incident identified for each of the breakout session focus areas. Operational Action Items focused • Professionalize incident management (Institutional) on improved responder training, funding (e.g., for incident management plan templates management (Institutional) • Develop a national program models • Develop a national program models and state-wide program development), and better traffic control (quick clearance, and guidelines (Institutional) and guidelines (Institutional) • Create standards and guidelines for keeping lanes open, and detour/diversion plans). Technological Action Items highlighted • Create standards and guidelines for performance data (Institutional) the need for a regional/cross-agency focus (e.g., funding, development of systems performance data (Institutional) • Recognize regional focus in • Recognize regional focus in architectures, and sharing information and technology). Institutional Action Items developing/ operating/funding TIM developing/ operating/funding TIM technologies (Technological) centered on standards and metrics (e.g., national program models and guidelines, technologies (Technological) • Develop regional/cross-agency performance benchmarks, benefit/cost approaches), a common voice for public safety, • Develop regional/cross-agency systems architectures, based on systems architectures, based on and communicating benefits in the context of broader community issues. standards (Technological) standards (Technological) • Establish a clearinghouse for • Establish a clearinghouse for incident management data incident management data The conference recommendations suggest five key components for implementing a (Operational) (Operational) national traffic incident management strategy: (1) a national TIM framework/coalition, (2) • Integrate TIM needs into highway • Integrate TIM needs into highway planning and design (Institutional) TIM program development, (3) professionalizing traffic incident management, (4) TIM planning and design (Institutional) technology, and (5) communication, public outreach, and education. While not shown as a separate key element, research is also necessary throughout for an effective strategy. The conference sponsors are committed to moving forward with a national traffic incident management strategy. During Summer 2002, efforts will be underway to explore the formation of a new national coalition to provide national leadership in addressing the conference recommendations. One of the main goals of this coalition will be begin an outreach/education process on the results of this conference and the need for action in