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

spectives are noted during the debriefingprocess and there is not consensus on how toaddress a particular situation, all stakeholderviewpoints should be documented.Table 10-8 lists the elements that should beincluded in a post-event report. As with thepost-event debriefing, the post-event reportshould not blame individuals or organizationsfor anything that did not go well. Thereport should provide a factual recounting ofthe special event, including planning theevent itself and what took place during thepost-event debriefing. If opinions are notedin the report, then the opinions should besegregated from the factual information andnoted as opinions.Table 10-8Elements of a Post-Event ReportELEMENT• A copy of the original traffic managementplan• A combined chronology of the event, incorporatingactions by all participants• List of recommended improvements• Statistical information (e.g., number of trafficincidents, number of CMS and HAR messages).• Survey results• General comments by participantsOperational Cost AnalysisPart of the evaluation process is to look atthe operational costs of managing theplanned special event. Expenses such asstaffing, equipment and overtime should benoted by the agency incurring the expense.This information should be broken downinto categories that allow others to understandthe costs and the specific efforts associatedwith the expenditures.In the same way, operational decisions canbe reviewed to identify areas that can be improved.Operational costs can also be reviewedwith areas of potential cost savingidentified. In some cases, these expensesmay be in areas where the reallocation ofpersonnel would result in reduced expensesor improved operations. In other areas, theuse of technology may result in savings.While individual stakeholders are responsiblefor gathering information on their owncosts, there is also benefit in merging thefigures of all agencies to have a better pictureof total expenses for personnel andequipment. This may also provide opportunitiesto see how dividing responsibilities indifferent ways could result in cost savings.Among the costs that should be analyzed areovertime expenses, costs of deployingequipment, equipment rental costs, additionalcommunications expenses, and expensesfor public information efforts.Qualitative EvaluationThe qualitative evaluation, while based onsofter measures such as opinion andperspective, still provides a very valuablemeasure of the success in handling theplanned special event. This is especiallytrue when measuring patron and publicviews on the event. Quantitative measuresmay be easier to manage, but qualitativejudgments may help determine the successof the plan. Even if the numbers show theplan was a success, if the qualitative evaluationshows significant dissatisfaction, it willbe difficult to view the event in a positivelight.The qualitative evaluation is based on anumber of factors, including the survey ofthe public and event patrons. Also importantis the qualitative evaluation provided bythose stakeholders who managed the event.If they view the exercise as a failure, it willbe difficult to get them to fully commit tosubsequent efforts for future planned special10EVENT PROFILE POST-EVENT ACTIVITIES DAY-OF-EVENT ACTIVITIES ADVANCE PLANNINGOVERVIEW10-11