Practices, Technologies, and Usage of Incident Management and Traveler Information Exchange and Sharing in Texas (7-4951-1)

In this report, researchers present a review of the practices and technologies being used in Texas for incident management and traveler information exchange and sharing. Through interviews and site visits, researchers assimilated data from the Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) districts to determine what information is being shared, with whom, and how that information is being disseminated within existing operating philosophies of the various agencies and private entities involved. Currently, all of the districts contacted share video (real-time continuous and snapshots), speed information, real-time incident information, and scheduled lane/road closure information with other public and private entities. The most common method utilized by TxDOT for disseminating information is the internet. TxDOT also extensively operates dynamic message signs to provide information to travelers en route. Other methods employed include direct connections (e.g., fiber), email, telephone, fax, low power television, in-vehicle navigation units, lane control signals, and kiosks. In addition, researchers conducted a survey on a sample group of agencies receiving information from TxDOT in order to quantify how frequently agencies utilize the different types of information, to explore how that information influences the types of decisions being made and actions being taken, and to identify the influence of local and regional issues upon information usage. Incident information is the most widely used by the agencies surveyed, closely followed by notification of scheduled lane closures. In addition, agencies utilize video to verify incident conditions and coordinate response efforts. Agencies such as city and county traffic departments, police, fire departments, transit, information service providers, and media continuously use the information provided by TxDOT to improve their daily operations. These agencies apply the information received from TxDOT to: 1) reroute traffic around roadways that are flooded; 2) adjust signal timings near construction or an incident to better accommodate increased traffic flow; 3) visually identify an incident; 4) determine the severity of an incident; 5) determine the appropriate incident response (e.g., fire, EMS, etc.); 6) improve emergency response time by better routing emergency units to avoid areas of congestion or other incidents; 7) provide incident information to responding personnel en route; 8) reroute buses and alleviate unnecessary schedule delays caused by an incident; 9) improve efficiency of agency personnel in their work-related travels by avoiding areas of congestion; and 10) improve roadway reports to the public. Based on the results of this project, researchers assimilated guidelines regarding effective information exchange techniques and practices. Researchers believe that the information documented herein will be valuable to the other districts who are not as far alon in their traffic management system development.