# Presentation: 374471

## Make Everyday a Special Event:National Dialogue on Operations

## Traffic flow is a concern

***Percentage of responses “satisfied” and “very satisfied” shown***

***Data not collected in 1995***

**Notes:**
Infrastructure QA7-14: how satisfied are you with the specific characteristics of . . . ?

Recently the Federal Highway Administration carried out a number of national telephone surveys of  our surface transportation customers.  The results showed that while there had been remarkable improvement  since l995 of the satisfaction level with the physical condition of our infrastructure,  there is growing concern with traffic.

## VMT Versus Lane Mileage

**Notes:**
This isn’t surprising when you realize that traffic growth in the U. S. has been booming right along with the booming economy – while capacity growth has pretty much flatlined over the last decade or so.

Most Americans now spend the equivelent of a week stuck in traffic.  1/3 of daily travel occurs under congested conditions.   And lest you think this is a problem of the big cities – The biggestgrowth in congestion is in small cities – 300% between l982 and l997. 

## Where should we spend our dollars?

**Notes:**
Congestion issues topped the list of where people should spend our resources

## Preferred Improvements

**Preferred Improvements**

***Percentage of “Great Help” responses shown***

**Notes:**
Operations  Q14:  How much do you think the following would help to overcome the problems that you experience?
What was interesting,  is when we asked citizens what should we do about it,  or where should we spend our transportation dollar,  their answers showed a remarkable sophistication :  
        First was “get in, get out and stay out” response”  construct and repair roads so they last – and when you repair do it as rapidly as possible even if you have to shut down the road
        Second  work on your operations:  traffic signals, incident response time
Then,  consider adding new lanes 

## How Realistic is this?

**Wanting congestion relief **
**Without **
**The pain of construction**

**Notes:**
Now it is worth asking at this point.  Just how realistic is this.  Is this a case of our citizens wanting  wanting the impossible – solving congestion problems without the pain of construction.

## Full time, integrated Operations can:

-   Reduce Delay
-   Improve Reliability
-   Reduce fatalities and    	Injuries
-    **Restore  a sense of ****	****control **

**At least I called ahead and delayed the meeting**

**Notes:**
In part it may be. Better operations cannot return our roads to freeflow.  But there is solid evidence that integrated, aggressive, real time, full time operations can reduce traffic delays,   it can improve reliability,  it can reduce the number of injuries and fatalities.  Perhaps more important to the customers we are serving it can restor the feeling of “control” back to citizens as they try to cope with crowded roads 

## Operations Tool Box

- Weather  Response
- Signal timing, synchronization
- Ramp meters,  HOVs,  HOTs
- Incident Management
- Work Zone Management
- Demand Management
- Access & Parking
- 		Management
- More......

**Notes:**
Over the last three decades,  we as a profession have developed a number of strategies to help solve particular operating problems –

 Whether it is blinding snow and road ice
 Simple signal retiming,  synchronized signals, dynamic signals
 Ramp meters, contraflow lanes, HOV lanes,  HOT lanes
 Incident Management 
High profile work zone management 
Demand Management 
Traveler Information 
Parking and Access management

## ITS allows the tools to be used dynamically

**Notes:**
And with the advent of  ITS many of these techniques  can now be used dynamically – used “on the fly” so to speak to adjust to dynamically changing condtions

Now,  these techniquest aren’t new to anyone – and I can well imagine someone out there saying – so what’s new.  We’re using some or all of those things and losing the war on congestion.

What if I countered and said that other metro areas have used these and other techniques and carried double what their  transportation systems carry on a normal basis. And did it without chos,  massive backups and kudos from around the world.  

## Los Angelos

- Atlanta

- Sydney

**Notes:**
The examples of course are the Olympic Cities  -- or anyother city that has planned an executed a truly massive event.
And before we dismiss it and say --- oh sure,  the Olympics.  People stayed home in Los Angeles,  Atlanta, and Sydney.  They will behave differently in the face of a real crisis.  The people may have stayed home but many became spectators that had to be transported.  And the fact is that millions of people packed the events every day who had to be moved.  Numbers that approach demand forecasts 20 years out.    

## What’s the difference?

-   A  do-whatever-it-takes Operations Mission
-  A group that is _empowered_
- with access to _every available tool_
-  that is _accountable_

**Notes:**
What’s the difference?    I suggest that for the first time in some of those cities – Operations became,  if only for that special event,  a   “Do Whatever It Takes Mission”   Some construction was certainly necessary – but the primary load was borne by  some kind of transportation operations group that was accountable” making the system work – everyday ,  24/7.
Those task forces or actual organizations brought together everyone that could make a difference in making the system work – under a variety of scenarios:  surge loads, terrorism, traffic accidents, adverse weather..... 
Yes the standard state, county and local traffic and freeway ops people:  Parking lot owners;	Public Safety; Transit;  Event facility operators;  Media; Towing and wrecking and Weather response teams.

Together they simulated scenario after scenario – watched them blow up then worked thru what each entity could do to streamline, optimize – to help make it work.  They became a team.  That played off the same set of music—everyone knowing their role in the overall whole,  everyone knowing the contingency.

They worked had in glove with constant communications – And they did it!    

##  Why can’t we operate like this every day?

**Notes:**
And when it was all over – it was natural to ask,  why can’t we operate like this every day?

## Not My Mission.....

| Agency | Primary Focus |
| --- | --- |
| State DOT | Design, Construct Projects |
| Police | Law enforcement |
| Emergency Response | Saving lives, protecting |
| Parking | ROI |
| Media | Ratings, advertising, ROI |
| Special Event Task Force | Make it work – 24/7 |

**Notes:**
Part of the reason is that it takes an Olympic event to create the “structure”, however temporary. to bring all the forces together to work together – to make it work.

Most of the players that learned to work hand in glove work in agencies that don’t have system operations as their primary mission: 
	Design/ construct projects
	Return on investment on event facilities
	Return on investment on parking
	Trauma care
	Law enforcement

But a big event makes the mission of  “operations” paramount – and usually creates an entity for whom that is their primary mission and equally important gives it the money, equipment,  and political enabling to get things done.

## What would it take to:

- Make Everyday a Special Event

- Money?

- Legislation ?

- New institutions?

- Research

- Models ?

- Practice Guidelines?

- Measures?

**Notes:**
So we have begun to ask—if we can make the system run smoother and better in a big event – what would it take to make everyday a special event in states and cities across America?

To make smooth,  dynamic, flexible, operations a fulltime mission.
	Is it money?
	Is it legislation?
	Is it creating the necessary institutions?
	Is it research that needs to be done?
	Is it creating performance measures?

## National Steering Committee on Transportation Operations

- Lillian Borrone
- Anne Canby
- Dennis Christiansen
- John Collins
- Lawrence Dahms
- Jack Goldstein
- David Hensing
- Dennis Keck
- Walter Kraft
- Thomas Larson

- William Millar
- Michael Meyer
- Wayne Shackelford
- Robert Skinner
- Peter Ruane
- Philip Tarnoff
- Joseph Sussman
- Douglas Wiersig
- James Wright

**Frank Francois (Chair)**
**Stephen Lockwood (Vice Chair)**

**Notes:**
We have created a national steering committee – chair by Frank Francois who have created a vision,  mission and a set of  thirteen very concrete objectives as well as a series of  issue papers

And  in the past several months they have taken several steps to move the Dialogue to action

## The Vision: A Transportation Systems Performance Initiative

**Operations Definition**:
- Managing and operating the existing transportation system so that its performance exceeds customer expectations.

## From Dialogue to Action

**Research**
**Draft Operations Research Agenda for TRB**
**SHRP Theme**
**Tools**
**Operations Self Assessment Tool**
**Measures**
**Collecting data in 10 cities to test new reliability measure**
**Developing a performance measure tool box**

**Notes:**
Under their direction, there is a:  
RESEARCH  AGENDA
Several workshops on research needs have been created and a draft research agenda has been created  to contribute both to 
	TRB  research partnership  (as one of 5 )
	SHRP 
Tools
	A draft Operations Self Assessment Instrument --  To help an agency assess/benchmark  “how well are we doing”   could we be doing more in managing  the system to  meet the objectives we have set in  our community 
Draft exists 
Testing in early 2001

Measurements

        Reliability Measure

## Travel Time Reliability

- 1-week snapshot example
- Day-to-day comparison:  Same trip/same time

- Reliable:  3 of 5 days or 60%

**Notes:**
Specifically we want to be able to communicate to the average traveler the “probability” that his trip time will be what he expects it to be

In this case in two of the five days the trip time was significantly more than his expected trip time that is already  (say) 30% longer than freeflow.

This graph simply depicts a single trip over the course of 1-week.  The trip is measured at the same time every day.  On average, the trip take 50 minutes +/- 10% or 5 minutes.  

As you see, 2 of 5 days greatly exceed the norm.

The technical staff will look to break this model down further and look at individual time-based measures and roll them up in an aggregate summary per year.

## From Dialogue to ActionOutreach

- Public Safety Initiative

- Regional Meetings

- Association Dialogues

- Agendas

- Agendas

- Agenda

- Operations in Planning

- Agenda

**Operations Summit**

**Notes:**
Outreach
 	Association focus Groups and Working Groups

	Regional meetings

	E-  Dialogue

Each developing   “agendas”  asking the questions of what does it take  to take on the operations mission as though every day were a special event
	funding
	legislation
	research
	tools  etc
Culminating in an Operations Summit in the Fall

## What would it take to Make Everyday a Special Event?