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

Figure 10-4Indiana State Police Debriefing Protocol for Brickyard 400 (2)meeting and these can then be merged into asingle document. During the event, end-ofdayreview meeting notes should be examinedto focus on actual situations and modificationsthat were incorporated into theplan.The evaluation will compare the plan withwhat actually took place. Actions, whetherconsidered good or bad, that deviated fromthe plan should be noted. It is not enough tosimply note what was different than expected,but why it differed from the plan.Stakeholders should also be candid aboutwhat they would do differently based ontheir experience during the event.If the planned special event is a recurringone, lessons learned should be documentedso that when a traffic management plan isdeveloped for the next event occurrence, theplan addresses past lessons learned. Even ifthe event represents a one-time activity, thelessons learned should still be documented.Many of the lessons may have applicationfor the next planned special event and can beused in developing traffic management plansfor similar planned special events or futureevents occurring at the same venue.Patron SurveyAlthough the goal is to keep traffic movingon all of the transportation facilities, the patronsare the ultimate customers of everyoneinvolved in the traffic management of theplanned special event. It is largely for theirbenefit the traffic management plan was createdin the first place, and they are the oneslikely to suffer the greatest consequences ifthe plan does not work. Therefore, theviewpoint of event patrons is needed if acredible evaluation of the plan is to be done.It is impossible to question everyone whoattended the event, but a survey of attendeeswill give insight into the patrons’ opinions.Unless measuring statistics for use in futureevent travel forecasting, it is not necessarythat a scientific survey be done either. Whatis important is that a cross-section of patronsbe surveyed in order to identify commonthreads. For example, if a significant numberof patrons say traveler information was10-6