Technologies Involved
The ETO Initiative will advance the following technologies:
Trans1portation Management Systems
Traffic Management Technology to Enhance Emergency Response: This project will examine adaptations of standard ITS freeway and traffic management systems—including loop detector systems, CCTV systems, and lane and ramp control systems—to facilitate faster incident response by clearing the way for emergency vehicles to travel through congested traffic behind the incident, or in contra-flow downstream from the incident. These technologies could also increase responder and public safety by reducing secondary incidents involving emergency vehicles.
For more information, see ITS to Enhance Incident Response.
Recommended Practices for Managing "No Notice" Evacuations: The ETO Initiative will provide transportation agencies with recommended practices for management of transportation and application of technology during no-notice evacuations. Based on a survey of existing evacuation practices and operational problems, an operational concept for no-notice evacuation management will be developed, and then tested in a tabletop exercise.
For more information, see Assessment of State of the Practice and State of the Art in Evacuation Transportation Management.
Real-Time Evacuation Management and Modeling: One of the major challenges of managing an evacuation is the dynamic nature of both the incident and of traveler behavior. Evacuation managers must be prepared to instantly re-route traffic as incidents progress or new emergency events occur. The ETO Initiative will sponsor the development of evacuation replanning software to help manage traffic flow in real-time.
This work will build on the Traffic Estimation and Prediction System (TrEPS), which was developed with JPO Funding. The ETO Initiative will work with TMC Pooled Fund Study and transit operators to define user needs, and then conduct laboratory tests, followed by field tests with case studies.
>Emergency Transportation Operations in Rural Areas: When disasters occur in metropolitan areas, evacuees flee into the surrounding rural areas. The ETO will work with several rural States to analyze issues related to emergency transportation operations in rural areas, and develop guidance for State and local agencies on how to manage volumes of travelers in rural and frontier areas, and help them return safely to their homes. Fiscal year 2005 contractor procurement is planned.
Rapid Restoration of Critical ITS Infrastructure: Effective management of transportation operations and traveler information during disasters requires ITS systems to be designed to withstand disasters or, should service be interrupted, to recover rapidly. The ETO Initiative will develop design, installation, and maintenance guidance for State and local agencies on hardening their ITS systems for disaster operations. ITS America will partner in this project to provide input from equipment developers and manufacturers as well as equipment owners and operators. Lessons learned from the 2003 blackout will be considered. Fiscal year 2005 contractor procurement is planned.
Traffic Control at Incident Scenes: Transportation agencies use Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS systems) to monitor real-time traffic and road conditions, and these ITS systems have powerful traveler information components—including the 511 traveler information number, changeable message signs, web sites and traveler advisory radio—as well as centralized roadway condition monitoring capabilities, and remote traffic signal controls. The ETO Initiative will explore innovative ways to use ITS technologies for traffic control at incident scenes to improve safety and improve traffic flow. New technology applications will be demonstrated, the results will be evaluated, and implementation guidance will be developed. Examples of the types of technologies that could be field-tested include incident-specific traveler information broadcast through multiple media; Public Safety Computer-aided Dispatch (CAD) and Transportation Management Center (TMC) Data Integration and Communication (CAD/ITS Integration); and other interoperable voice and data communications networks to link transportation agencies with other incident responders.
Guidance for Transportation Operations in Biohazard Emergencies: Biohazard incidents are possibly the most complex of all hazmat scenes, because typically they call for restriction of mobility within a certain radius of the scene. At the same time, emergency responders and their equipment and supplies must have access to the scene, and mobility must be maintained around the restricted zone. The ETO Initiative will work with State transportation agencies to evaluate the roles of transportation during a biohazard situation and make recommendations on how the responsible agencies can apply advanced operational methods and technology in order to accomplish those roles effectively.
For more information, see Application of Technology to Transportation Operations in Biohazard Situations.
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Communications
Standards to Support Integrated Incident Management Systems: Opportunities abound to network ITS systems with the information and communications systems maintained by other emergency responders. While there is a growing recognition in the transportation, public safety, and emergency response communities of the desirability of building more integrated and inclusive information and communications networks, system integration is technically challenging. Each community of practice is served by a distinct set of equipment vendors and has developed separate standards that govern equipment design. At present, system integration requires extensive programming, but hopefully the future will provide more of a "plug and play" environment. Integration of the system design standards promulgated by the transportation and public safety communities will require several years of focused effort, and is a major goal of the ETO Initiative.
The ETO Initiative will support two types of standards activities:
- ITS Standards for Center-to-Center Communications
Eight ITS standards focus on transportation agency Center-to-Center communications—that is, communications between the Transportation Management Centers (TMCs) where highway operations are managed, and other transportation operations centers such as Transit Management Centers, Emergency Management Centers, etc. The ETO Initiative will support completion of these standards and their field demonstration.
- Integration of ITS and Public Safety Standards
Effective emergency response requires all responders to share real-time information about the incident and how it is being managed. The development of integrated incident management systems to link transportation agencies with public safety communications systems is complicated by dissimilar data standards. Through the ETO Initiative, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) will continue to work with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to develop compatible standards and provide technical guidance on their use. More
More information about the ETO Initiative's standards-related activities can be found in the Current Activities section of this Web site.
More information about integration of ITS systems with public safety incident response systems can be found on the ITS Public Safety Program's Web site.
Towing and Recovery and Hazmat Communications Technology Demonstration: In order to arrive rapidly and safely on scene with the proper equipment and materials, towing/recovery and hazmat contractors need information such as the type of incident; the size and type of vehicles involved; scene access and terrain; and, in the case of hazardous materials, the type of material and rate of leakage.
Contractors normally are dispatched after the first arriving responder notifies dispatch that towing/recovery or hazmat services are needed. When the first responder is unable to supply adequate information, contractors can be left guessing about how to respond, and the incident duration is lengthened if they have to call for additional equipment after arriving on scene.
Cell phone cameras may be an inexpensive, easy way to provide towing/recovery and hazmat contractors with better information about the scene. The ETO Initiative will provide cell phone cameras to first responders in the Washington, DC region and train them to send photographs or video to the dispatch center, which will relay them to contractors. Researchers will evaluate the benefits—hopefully, faster recovery of normal travel conditions. If the approach works, DOT will produce technical guidance for other regions that want to try this simple idea.
The Capital Area Wireless Integrated Network (CapWIN) is the testbed for this project.
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Traveler Information
Traveler Information for Disaster Situations: Evacuees need localized, specific and timely information that often is not available from broadcast media. The challenge for transportation agencies is to maximize the utility of the communications assets of their ITS systems during disasters in order to influence evacuee behavior. The ETO Initiative will analyze traveler information needs during major disasters and develop guidance for transportation agencies on how to plan a disaster response program that includes use of all of the agency's communications assets to provide highly effective traveler information.
Contributing to this project will be the TMC Pooled Fund Study members who operate traveler information systems, as well as the National Emergency Management Association and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
For more information, see Communicating with the Public Using ATIS During Disasters.
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Surveillance
Low-Cost Surveillance of Rural Evacuation Routes: During evacuations, transportation managers need to monitor the system-wide status of traffic volumes and flows, road and weather conditions. The problem is that most evacuation takes place on suburban and rural roadways—beyond the metropolitan commute routes that are instrumented with traditional ITS sensors and cameras. The cost of installing traditional ITS infrastructure cannot be justified on roadways that typically have low volumes of traffic. The ETO Initiative is exploring commercial products that could provide sensing and surveillance, independent of wireline communications and power availability from the electric grid, and at substantially lower costs than traditional ITS infrastructure.
For more information, see Low-Cost Surveillance of Rural Evacuation Routes.
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Intelligent Vehicle and Vehicle-Infrastructure Integration
Vehicle-Infrastructure Cooperation to Support Emergency Transportation Operations: Emerging Intelligent Vehicle and Vehicle-Infrastructure Integration technologies offer many potential benefits for emergency operations management. For example:
- Traffic volumes and flows on evacuation routes, and routes surrounding the incident scene, can be monitored by combining and analyzing anonymous data signals sent from individual vehicles.
- Automated in-vehicle systems can recognize incidents (for example, air bag deployment in a collision), or record event data (such as unusual deceleration rates, and more routine kinematical or operational data) that can be monitored remotely (and anonymously) to identify an event outside of the vehicle.
- Warnings can be sent to drivers of vehicles directly affected by, and endangered by an event.
- Route and path information can be communicated to drivers during an evacuation emergency, where messages are tailored to the location of individual vehicles.
- Messages can be sent to individual vehicles to encourage them to make way for emergency responders by vacating a travel lane, by moving to one side, or just to make them aware of the need to stay out of the way.
The ETO Initiative will develop service concepts for IV and VII to address all levels of emergency situations and response, including evacuation management. Potential benefits and other impacts of these service concepts will also be estimated where possible.
For more information, see Define Service Concepts for Vehicle-Infrastructure Cooperation to Support Emergency Transportation Operations.
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