T3 Webinar:

9/11/2008 — Traffic Incident Management Plans in Southeast Michigan and Southeastern Wisconsin: Institutional and Technical Challenges to Managing Congestion and Improving Responder Safety

September 11, 2008

Text version of Webinar presentation:

"Working Together to Improve Regional Operations through Traffic Incident Management"

Description of image or images on a slide contained in brackets.

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Slide 1: SEMCOG

Southeast Michigan Council of Governments

T3 Webinar
September 11, 2008
J. Thomas Bruff

Slide 2: Working Together to Improve Regional Operations through Traffic Incident Management

Slide 3: [Map of MI region with SEMCOG regions highlighted.]

Slide 4: [Close up view of 7-county SEMCOG region surrounding the City of Detroit.]

Slide 5: Images

[4 images of roadways and intersections, highlighting these facts:

22,800 miles of public roads in the seven-county region, including over 4,800 miles of truck routes.
950 miles of road in poor condition, and 4,884 miles of truck routes.
Over 5,400 traffic signals and over 140,000 crashes
140 million vehicle miles traveled daily, and 1,000 miles currently congested.

]

Slide 6: Metro Detroit Traffic Incident Management History

November, 1991 — Greater Detroit Incident Management Conference (NIMC sponsor)
February, 1992 — Volunteers established the Metropolitan Detroit Incident Management Coordinating Committee
1993 — Eight Task Forces established to develop recommendations regarding detection, response, removal, alt. routes, information, jurisdiction, legislation and budget.

Slide 7: Metro Detroit Incident Management Coordination Coalition

Michigan Department of Transportation
Michigan State Police
Southeast Michigan Council of Governments
Road Commission for Oakland County
Road Commission of Macomb County
Wayne County Roads
Federal Highway Administration

Slide 8: Metro Detroit Incident Management Coordination Coalition (cont'd)

City of Detroit
City of Southfield
City of Troy
WWJ radio
Emergency Road Response
MDOT — Grand Region
Wayne State University
Hubbell, Roth & Clark, Inc.

Slide 9: Blueprint for Action, 1994 — Recommendations

Create Incident Management Center
Remove abandoned vehicles in 4 hours instead of 48 hours
First agency on scene to take charge
Prepare standard boundary maps
Install intermediate location markers
Notify jurisdiction's road agency

Slide 10: Blueprint for Action, 1994 — Recommendations (cont'd)

Expand coverage of Detroit's Freeway Operations
Encourage towing/courtesy patrol
Educate police and fire departments
Legislate/educate moving disabled vehicles from travel lanes
Develop alternate route plans
Formalize jurisdictional agreements

Slide 11: Blueprint for Action Accomplishments

Slide 12: Surveillance

System Expansion
- 1957 – 1971: John C. Lodge Freeway Traffic Management Center, 2 miles
- 1976 – 1991: SCANDI, 1,300 detectors, 4 cameras, 9 advisory signs, along 32.5 miles of freeway.
- 1983: ramp metering
- 1991: expansion to 180 miles of freeway, 180 CCTVs, 59 DMSs, 2,260 loops

Slide 13: Established Freeway Courtesy Patrol (FCP), 1994

[Image of MDOT Freeway Courtesy Patrol (FCP) vehicle, and image of the vehicle in service on a Metro Detroit freeway.]

A service of MDOT
24 vehicles patrol Metro Detroit freeways
Vehicles available 24 hours/7 days
In 2007 there were 51,000 vehicle stops and 35,000 assists to stranded motorists

Slide 14: FCP Coverage Map

[Freeway Courtesy Patrol (FCP) coverage map.]

Slide 15: FCP Coordination Activities

Established FCP Operations Committee
Developed Freeway Courtesy Patrol Operations Guidelines
Developed Incident Management Procedures
- Incident Severity Classification
- Responder Matrix for each Incident Level
After-Action Review of Incident Response

Slide 16: Levels of Incidents

Level	Criteria
Level I	Construction or weather-related lane restrictions
Level II	Freeway or median shoulder closure
Level III	One or more lanes closed in one or both directions
Level IV	One-direction freeway closure
Level V	Full freeway closure

Slide 17: Combined MDOT ITS TOC and MSP 911 Dispatch, 1995

[Image of MDOT ITS Traffic Operations Center (TOC) which shows the MSP 911 dispatch in front of the MDOT operations staff and video wall in the foreground.]

Slide 18: Disseminating Operations Information

[Slide containing 3 images:

Screenshot of MI Drive website (www.michigan.gov/drive)
Image of freeway with VMS showing congestion level and average speed
Image of MDOT MTS Center Control Room

]

Slide 19: [Screenshot of MI Drive website showing map and images of certain sections of the freeway (view of what a user might see if he clicks on a few different camera icons.]

Slide 20: Special Events Planning

[Logos of special and sports events, and pictures of fireworks.]

Lions, Tigers, and Red Wings
Thanksgiving Day Parade
July 4th Fireworks
Dream Cruises
And much more

Slide 21: Intermediate Location Markers

[Image of enhanced mile marker on a freeway, which assists stranded motorists or those involved in an incident to better identify their location to emergency dispatch personnel.]

Slide 22: Construction Impact Mitigation: Ambassador Bridge Gateway Project

[Map and legend for Ambassador Bridge Gateway project.]

Alternative Route Planning
Crash Investigation Sites
Redeployed Freeway Courtesy Patrol
Transit Alternatives/Commuter Challenge
Communicate, Coordinate, and Cooperate

Slide 23: Incident Responder Safety Training

[Illustrated notice for first responders' training course on incident management.]

Slide 24: High Visibility

[Images of samples of reflective vests and signs distributed to local and state police for use at incident scenes.]

Slide 25: Regional Concept for Transportation Operations (RCTO), 2005

Planning Group

SEMCOG
MDOT
Michigan State Police
Assistance by Hubbell, Roth & Clark, Inc.

Slide 26: RCTO Vision

"Southeast Michigan will have a reliable and managed transportation operations across geographic and modal boundaries for both routine traffic operations and traffic incident management that saves time, lives, and money for its travelers."

Slide 27: Metro Detroit (Stakeholder) Suggestions

Objectives
- Identify arterial streets as priority corridors, making them candidates for investments in traffic signal optimization, communications infrastructure, and closed circuit television cameras.
- Disseminate operations information to stakeholders, the media, and individual travelers (i.e., video sharing).
- Retime traffic signals regularly.
- Reduce congestion and improve travel times by clearing incidents quickly and safely.

Slide 28: Transportation Operations Network

[Diagram of Metro Detroit Regional Operations Network, showing elements or services represented by existing working groups.]

Slide 29: For More Information

SEMCOG's Web site www.semcog.org/Data.aspx?id=254
Contact SEMCOG
- Ms. Wei Chen, Transportation Engineer, wchen@semcog.org or 313-324-3322
- Mr. Chade Saghir, Senior Transportation Planner, saghir@semcog.org or 313-324-3342
- Mr. Tom Bruff, Transportation Coordinator, bruff@semcog.org, 313-324-3340