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

viding technical guidance toward TIMEimplementation. This group maintains asubcommittee on special events. Thespecial events subcommittee proposed aconcept of creating a special event trafficmanagement planning tool applicable toany planned special event proposed inthe greater Milwaukee metropolitanarea. The tool proves particularly usefulfor assessing the required multi-agencyresponse to a planned special event proposedwith relatively brief advance notice.Based on the input of informationrelated to the previously described fiveevent impact factors, the tool assigns oneof five event impact levels to a proposedevent. The following numerical thresholdsdefine the five event impact levels:o Traffic Condition Level 1 = 15o Traffic Condition Level 2 = 25o Traffic Condition Level 3 = 35o Traffic Condition Level 4 = 45o Traffic Condition Level 5 = 65Figure 2-6 shows a draft version of theplanning tool, including the numericalvalues assigned to each event impactfactor answer. TIME stakeholders planto develop an action plan correspondingto each identified planned special eventlevel. The action plan will list recommendedpractices for stakeholders thatregularly manage traffic during the occurrenceof a planned special event, includingthe Wisconsin DOT – District 2,county highway departments, law enforcement,and event venue personnel.These recommended practices would detailrequired staffing levels, on-callequipment, alternate route usage, trafficsignal system modifications, availabletransit options, and other information. (7)• The City of Los Angeles DOT (LADOT)and Los Angeles Police Department(LAPD) maintain a database of plannedspecial events scheduled to occur withinthe agencies’ jurisdiction. The LADOTand LAPD assign an event impact levelto each event to describe the generalscope of each agency’s involvement inadvance planning and day-of-event trafficmanagement. The event impact levelsinclude:o Level 1: Install and enforce temporaryparking restrictions.o Level 2: Level 1 and deployment oftraffic officers (LAPD).o Level 3: Level 2 and engineering/ATSACsupport (LADOT).o Level 4: Coordinated major event responseeffort.ATSAC refers to LADOT’s AutomatedTraffic Surveillance and Control System.Initially deployed for the 1984 SummerOlympic Games, ATSAC is a computertraffic signal system that monitors trafficconditions and system performance, selectsappropriate traffic signal timingstrategies, and performs equipment diagnosticsand alert functions. Operatorsat the ATSAC Operations Center receivereal-time information from signalizedintersection detectors and signal controllers,and operators have access to closedcircuittelevision images at critical locationsthroughout the City. (8)STAKEHOLDERGROUPSTransportation system performance during aplanned special event affects numerousstakeholders. Achieving seamless and efficienttransportation operations betweenfreeways, streets, parking facilities, andtransit serving a special event venue requiresa sound multidisciplinary, interjurisdictional,and inter-modal approach.The organization and coordination of2EVENT PROFILE POST-EVENT ACTIVITIES DAY-OF-EVENT ACTIVITIES ADVANCE PLANNINGOVERVIEW2-13