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

Some distinguishing considerations of thisevent category during the post-event activitiesphase include:• Practitioners should reference the posteventactivities guidelines and considerationscontained in Chapters 11 and 12, asappropriate, based on the type of ruralevent.• In regard to participant evaluation, ruralevent patron travel surveys yield importantinformation and statistics that canassist practitioners in (1) improving theaccuracy of future rural event travelforecasts and (2) developing travel demandmanagement incentives (e.g., express/charterbus services, event patronincentives) for the market area served byrural events.• Periodic public surveys warrant considerationfor special events under thiscategory as event performance evaluationdata fails to assess all communityimpacts. Survey results alert specialevent stakeholders of impacts to affectedresidents and businesses, in addition tonon-attendee transportation system users,that may continue to occur with eachsuccessive special event at a particularvenue location. As a result, stakeholderscan develop and implement appropriatestrategies (e.g., enforcement, etc.) andregulations to mitigate the identified impact(s)for future planned special events.• Post-event debriefings represent a commonand recommended stakeholder activityfor all rural events.o Written comments should be obtainedfrom temporary, borrowedstaff used on the day-of-event if staffcan not participate in a debriefingmeeting.o A key aspect of a post-eventdebriefing for rural events involvespreparing detailed meeting minutesthat include the identification of keysuccesses and lessons learned.o Considering the potential significanttime between rural events, stakeholdersmust chronicle participantsurvey results and debriefing meetingsso that those stakeholderscharged with managing travel for futurerural events can tap the wisdomof past participants.• The occurrence of a major, recurring ruralevent warrants development of apost-event report. In turn, the report canserve as a working document to assist inadvance planning for the next (year’s)event.• A post-event report for a recurring ruralevent should include an operational costanalysis to assist stakeholders in identifyingpotential cost-saving resource deploymentstrategies for the next eventoccurrence.PROGRAM PLANNINGProgram planning activities involve the developmentof policies, programs, and initiativesthat facilitate improved planning andmanagement of travel for future plannedspecial events.Program planning for rural events includeactivities, as summarized in Table 15-6, onboth a regional and local level. Practitionersshould reference program planning activitiescontained in Chapters 11 and 12, as appropriate,depending on the type of rural event.Some distinguishing considerations of thisevent category during the program planningphase include:15EVENT PROFILE POST-EVENT ACTIVITIES DAY-OF-EVENT ACTIVITIES ADVANCE PLANNINGOVERVIEW15-9