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

• Stakeholders may measure hours of delayby predefining what is consideredcongestion and noting how long the congestionlasts.• While external measures provide hardstatistics to demonstrate the plan’s effectiveness,softer measures may also bebeneficial. A survey of attendees mayshow how effective they perceived thetraffic management plan. Their level ofsatisfaction with ease of access, qualityof traveler information, and other activitiescan provide insights into how theusers of the system view the effectivenessof the plan that was implemented.Before deciding what to measure, it is importantto decide how to evaluate the trafficmanagement plan and the performance ofthe traffic management team. This decisionmay be driven, in part, by difficulties experiencedduring previous planned specialevents, political considerations, or a need todemonstrate the value of particular toolsused during the event.Integration with Program PlanningProcessThe evaluation must be more than an afterthoughtto gain the maximum benefit fromit. As part of the program planning process,the evaluation should be considered from theinitiation of the process through its conclusion.If the evaluation is being done for thefirst time, those who are putting the plan togetherhave to look at the goals and then designthe evaluation to measure whether thegoals have been met.If previous evaluations have been done,even if they were done for another event, theresults of those evaluations should be examinedbefore the traffic management plan isdesigned. In the case of an unrelated event,there may be some lessons learned thatcould be applied to this new event. If this isa recurring event, previous evaluationswould have more specific insights that canbe applied.Since evaluation will be taking placethroughout the planning process and duringthe event itself, it is important that theevaluation steps, goals and objectives be establishedduring the program planning phaseor early in the event operations planningphase for a specific planned special event.Finally, as the event concludes, it is also importantthat a mechanism be created to takewhat is learned in the evaluation of a specificplanned special event and put it in aform that allows the evaluation results to beapplied to future events.Application to Future EventsWhether the event is a one-time only happeningor an annual occurrence, what hasbeen learned through the evaluation can contributetoward proactively improving travelmanagement for all planned special eventsoccurring in a region.To be beneficial for future planned specialevents, the results of the evaluation shouldbe documented and made accessible. In thecase of a one-time only event, the evaluationmay show both general and specific insights,which can be used for other future plannedspecial events. These could include areassuch as traveler information, interagencycommunications, and the planning processitself.For recurring events, a file providing thecumulative benefit of lessons learned willhelp sharpen the traffic management plandeveloped for each new occurrence. It isalso important to remember that with recur-10-4