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

INTRODUCTIONAfter identifying traffic operations deficienciesin the planned special event feasibilitystudy, the next step for the event planningteam is to develop a traffic managementplan that details traffic, parking, and pedestrianmanagement techniques to mitigate anyand all anticipated problems on the day-ofevent.The challenge to stakeholders involvesnot only developing a strategy tomitigate a potential congestion or safety hotspot, but also ensuring each tactic does notdefeat the objectives of another.A breakdown (e.g., pedestrian flow) occurringat the venue, parking areas, site accessroads, transit system, local street system, orregional corridors serving the event canyield a potential snowball effect on otherintegrated components of the transportationsystem. A proactive traffic managementplan for planned special events prohibits individualtransportation system componentsfrom impeding one another. It represents aflexible plan that can adapt to and optimizeproposed transit service changes and traveldemand management initiatives.The scope of a traffic management plan variesfor each planned special event, even forevents happening in the same jurisdiction orregion. Different strategies and tactics aresuccessful in handling different categories ofplanned special events occurring in metropolitan,urban, and rural areas. A successfultraffic management plan satisfies both the:(1) customer requirements of all transportationsystem users and (2) allotted budget forpersonnel and equipment resources assignedto the day-of-event operation. From a programplanning perspective, the deploymentof automated systems at a particular venueimproves travel management for all futureplanned special events at the venue. Similarly,a portable system obtained for use duringa particular planned special event maybe used by practitioners to manage futureplanned special events in a region.PLAN COMPONENTSOverviewManaging travel for planned special eventsinvolves developing a transportation managementplan that contains operations andservice strategies specific to managing traffic,transit, and travel demand. A transportationmanagement plan consists of three keycomponents:• Traffic management plan• Transit plan• Travel demand management initiativesA transportation management plan representsan extension of the feasibility study,referencing study input data and analysisconclusions, then expanding the analysis toinclude mitigation strategies and tactics.These strategies create a physical change intravel pattern flow, and tactics describeavailable tools or management approachesto meet the associated strategy.The feasibility study results influence thescope of the transit plan and other traveldemand management initiatives by identifyingtraffic capacity deficiencies and community(e.g., residential and commercialbusiness) impacts. Transit agencies maywork off-line to develop a transit plan detailingschedules and necessary equipment andpersonnel resources. The transit plan mayspecify one of more categories of transit operationthat include:• Existing service plus additional vehiclehours (e.g., more frequent service or expandedhours of operation)• Existing service plus route deviation(e.g., includes new stop at transit station(s)near venue)6-2