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

ELEMENTLocationspecifictrafficand pedestriancontrolPost-eventevaluationACTION• Indicate protocol and personnel charged with monitoring traffic surveillance equipment(e.g., CCTV).• List available maintenance personnel and equipment resources.• Indicate agency personnel (e.g., number of staff or individual name, rank, and unit/radioassignment), report date and time.• Specify schedule and route of roving service patrols.• State protocol and personnel assignments for maintaining unobstructed emergency accessroutes.• Specify task instructions, including traffic and pedestrian flow restrictions and permittedmovements (e.g., special allowances for local traffic, buses, etc.).• Summarize the location and time (close/reopen) of planned full/partial road closures encompassinga particular location.• Provide step-by-step directions in order for substitute personnel to quickly learn protocol.• Include explanation, supplemented with graphics, of special event parking area permitsand event passes.• Describe components of post-event field personnel debriefing.o Time of heavy traffic and pedestrian flowo Qualitative assessment of traffic and pedestrian operations at location.o Recommendations to improve traffic and/or pedestrian flow at locationreference. Traffic management team supervisorsshould maintain a full version of theevent traffic management plan, includingcontingency response plans, at the commandpost.In an effort to best prepare traffic managementteam personnel, particularly team supervisors,for day-of-event operations, theplan can include a qualitative evaluationsummary of transportation system operationsfor a previous, similar planned specialevent. This allows team members to familiarizethemselves with past operations andlessons learned. The plan may highlightnew provisions and changes for the subjectevent aimed at mitigating past lessonslearned.REVIEW AND TESTINGPurpose8-5While all of the steps discussed up to thispoint are important, the best traffic managementplans may fail if they are not reviewedand tested prior to their implementation.The event operations planning process,by its very nature, is based on assumptionsand expectations. Those event planningteam members who helped draw-up the planmay have a thorough knowledge of theiragencies’ experience and capabilities, butthere are probably many traffic managementteam members and volunteer personnel whohad little or no role in developing the plan,yet have the responsibility of implementingit and managing travel on the day-of-event.While a traffic management plan can covermany contingencies, it cannot cover all possibilities.Review and testing can allow participantsto see how they handle variousscenarios and how varying elements can affectthe plan. The testing of the plan shouldbe considered part of the overall trainingthat is needed for traffic management teampersonnel to become familiar with the planand their role in it.This section covers what should be done inthe days leading up to plan deployment, includingsimulation exercises and equipmenttesting which will help assure that what isplanned is what actually happens.8EVENT PROFILE POST-EVENT ACTIVITIES DAY-OF-EVENT ACTIVITIES ADVANCE PLANNINGOVERVIEW