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

seek out other sources. The media may alsoacquire information via cell phones fromevent patrons driving to the planned specialevent, and the media will want to verify theinformation the public provides with thetransportation agencies. If trust is lost betweenthe media and the agencies, the agenciesmay lose control of the flow of information.Traveler InformationDisseminationTraveler information will have two importantaudiences during the event: (1) thosewho plan to attend and (2) those who wantto avoid the delays the event may cause. Inboth cases, traveler information tools can beused to effectively disseminate information.Table 9-8 presents various pre-trip and enroutetraveler information disseminationmethods.Table 9-8Traveler InformationDissemination MethodsMETHOD• Newspapers and printed material• Radio and television• Internet (e.g., websites and e-mail)• Changeable message signs• Highway advisory radio• Telephone information systems (e.g., 511)The dissemination of traveler informationbegins before the event with warnings ofwhat may occur, preferred routes to the siteand around it, and where drivers can get updateson the day-of-event. Different toolslend themselves to particular uses. Newspapersand other printed material, for example,lend themselves to graphic information suchas maps. The Internet represents a powerfulmedium for disseminating pre-trip travelinformation to event patrons and othertransportation system users. Figure 9-4shows a Seattle Department of Transportationweb page detailing specific plannedspecial event traffic impacts and multimodaltravel options.Figure 9-4Internet Traveler Information (Graphiccourtesy of the Seattle DOT.)Changeable message signs function best toraise awareness of a potential problem whileroad users are en-route, and highway advisoryradio is somewhere in the middle, beingable to provide more detail than signs, butless than printed material. The planned specialevent is likely to require the deploymentof portable changeable message signs becausea greater concentration of informationis needed and because the event may be takingplace in a location where permanent devicesare not in place. Portable highway advisoryradio stations may also be consideredto reach motorists.In planning for the event, stakeholders mustconsider: (1) which devices will be used, (2)approved messages that can be displayed,9EVENT PROFILE POST-EVENT ACTIVITIES DAY-OF-EVENT ACTIVITIES ADVANCE PLANNINGOVERVIEW9-11