managing travel for planned special events - FHWA Operations ...

Volunteer RecruitmentPrior to initiating volunteer recruiting efforts,event planning team and/or trafficmanagement team stakeholders must determinethe number of volunteers needed. Thisrepresents a function of the number of potentialvolunteer work assignments andnumber of available volunteer supervisors.An alternative approach to recruiting aftertraffic management plan development involves:(1) soliciting the public, throughevent advertisements, for volunteers early inthe event operations planning phase and (2)developing a volunteer contact list for laterreference as conditions warrant.Because different special event work assignmentspeak varying levels of interestamong volunteers, stakeholders should recruitadditional volunteers for certain lowinterestassignments. This avoids a potentialshortfall relative to volunteers not showingup for work on the day-of-event.Training ActivitiesTraining for volunteers and temporary staffensure these personnel: (1) understand thetraffic management plan component governingtheir assignment, (2) disseminate accurateinformation to event patrons and supervisors,and (3) understand traffic managementteam operations protocol. Traininginvolves the distribution of reference material,pre-event seminars, or both.Table 3-36 lists general volunteer trainingactivities. Since most volunteers do not possessrelevant experience in managing transportationand parking operations, trainingactivities should address all of the potentialdecision-making scenarios that volunteersmay encounter in addition to day-of-eventcommunications.Table 3-36General Volunteer Training ActivitiesACTION• Discuss traffic management team chain ofcommand.• Summarize job training and required duties.• Schedule review.• Present examples of typical and contingencyscenarios and how volunteers should react.• Provide background in customer service.• Describe field communications infrastructure.• Discuss proper radio communications protocol.• Explain types of parking area permits andevent passes.• Discuss strategies for accommodating personswith disabilities (e.g., review disabled accessibleroutes and site facilities).• Review security guidelines.• Review guidelines for interacting with themedia.• Indicate transportation information and alternativesfor volunteer access to event venuesite.DAY-OF-EVENTACTIVITIESDay-of-event activities focus on the dailyimplementation of the traffic managementplan in addition to traffic monitoring. Thetraffic management team represents a distinctstakeholder group charged with executingthe traffic management plan and modifyingthe plan as warranted by real-time conditionson the day-of-event. Team organizationincludes agency representatives stationedat a central command post, at secondarycommand posts, at a permanent TMC,and at strategic locations in the field for trafficcontrol and observation. The trafficmanagement team generally functions undera formal management process, namely theIncident Command System, to ensure successfultraffic management plan deploymentand minimal impact to transportation systemusers. Traffic monitoring provides trafficand incident management support in addi-3EVENT PROFILE POST-EVENT ACTIVITIES DAY-OF-EVENT ACTIVITIES ADVANCE PLANNINGOVERVIEW3-51