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

detail impact mitigation strategies and tactics.EXTERNAL FACTORSAFFECTING SCOPE OFEVENT IMPACTOverviewThis chapter summarizes event operationsplanning and impact analysis activities thataddress the core factors affecting plannedspecial event severity. That is, travel demand,road/site capacity, and event operation.A number of secondary factors warrantconsideration in the event operations phase,including:• Available resources• Weather• Concurrent roadway construction• Concurrent planned special eventsThese factors can greatly influence the levelof impact a planned special event has ontransportation system operations. By gainingan understanding of the special challengesthat these external factors present, theevent planning team can develop appropriatecontingency response plans, using the toolsand strategies presented in Chapters 6 and 7,to mitigate infrequent but high-impact scenarios.An assessment of the level of impact that anexternal factor has on travel during a particularplanned special event involves theconsideration of the following components:• Duration – temporal impact (e.g., whendoes the external factor impact operationsand for how long?).• Extent – spatial impact or scope of areaaffected (e.g., does the external factorimpact a particular corridor or theentire region?)• Intensity – volume of impact (e.g., howsevere is the impact?)Practitioners should express the impact of anexternal factor in terms of how it affectstravel demand, road/site capacity, and personnel/equipmentresource quantities. Feasibilitystudy input data can reflect adjustmentsmade due to certain anticipated externalfactors, or practitioners can rerun parkingand roadway capacity analyses to accountfor a new unexpected factor (e.g., occurrenceof emergency road construction).In turn, revised results may warrant adjustmentsto the event traffic management plan.Available ResourcesAvailable resources refer to the quantity andexperience of personnel and equipmentavailable to plan and conduct day-of-eventtravel management operations. Besides thesize of a planned special event, the level ofrequired resources depend on time/place ofoccurrence, other planned special events,and equipment status.A special factor that may place significantstrain on available resources involves theoccurrence of planned special events at avenue under reconstruction. Shown in Figure5-15, venue reconstruction places additionaldemand on the amount of traffic managementteam personnel and equipment resourcesneeded to manage events hosted bythe venue during its reconstruction. Stakeholderresponse to on-site parking restrictionsinclude redevelopment of traffic managementplans to accommodate parking demand,pedestrian access, and traffic flow inthe immediate vicinity of the venue.5EVENT PROFILE POST-EVENT ACTIVITIES DAY-OF-EVENT ACTIVITIES ADVANCE PLANNINGOVERVIEW5-33