Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 54
H-1
APPENDIX H
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, CASE STUDY
1 INTRODUCTION ning activities, ultimately resulted in the development of the
TMC. The cooperative efforts of the champions began in 1992
The California Department of Transportation, District 11 and resulted in the TMC that serves the collective needs of the
(Caltrans), and California Highway Patrol (CHP) have com- agencies and enables the agencies to coordinate incident
bined to coordinate transportation operations and communi- management operations. This TMC became operational in
cations during both normal and emergency operations in San 1996 and was the first fully co-located TMC in the state of
Diego County. With respect to traffic incident management California. The institutional coordination that led to the devel-
(TIM) and information sharing between the two agencies, opment of the TMC also provided the foundation to embark
this case study provides an analysis of on an effort to develop a system interface between CHP and
Caltrans information systems through the InterCAD project.
· Joint planning, development, and operations of the From an institutional perspective, another arrangement
regional traffic management center (TMC); unique to the San Diego region with regard to cooperatively
· Roles and responsibilities of each agency in the context managing freeway operations in San Diego is that service
of TIM; patrols are funded by the San Diego Association of Govern-
· Information-sharing methods and the supporting voice ments (SANDAG). SANDAG is the metropolitan planning
and data systems; and organization (MPO) for the San Diego region and includes
· Technological and institutional issues that were addressed representatives from each of the region's 19 local govern-
in developing data and communications systems, as well ments. This financial support demonstrates the importance
as issues that are operational in nature. that the region has collectively placed on providing travelers
with safe and efficient transportation services.
This case study also examines the San Diego Regional
Computer Aided Dispatch Interconnect (InterCAD) project. 1.1.2 Co-Location and Joint Operations
The project that is designed to support improved traffic oper-
ations and incident management in the San Diego County As mentioned, a focal point of traffic operations and inci-
portion of the Southern California Intelligent Transportation dent management in the San Diego region is the TMC that
Systems (ITS) Priority Corridor. However, because of a vari- was jointly developed by CHP and Caltrans. The purpose in
ety of institutional and technological issues, the project was developing the center was to develop a unified, co-located
never fully implemented. communications and command center for Caltrans Traffic
The following person was the primary point of contact for Operations, Caltrans Maintenance, and CHP Communica-
this site visit: tions. The TMC provides communications and surveillance
functions that are critical during normal operations, special
Tarbell C. Martin, P.E. (Retired) events, and incidents (during incidents, the TMC becomes a
Chief, Transportation Management Center, District 11 command center for traffic operations in the region).
Caltrans The TMC was also designed to support operations that far
7183 Opportunity Road exceed the normal day-to-day traffic operations. Depending
P.O. Box 85406 on the prevailing conditions, the TMC can also serve as a cen-
San Diego, CA 92186-5406 tral point of operations when federal, state, and local agencies
have to coordinate operations with military, law enforcement,
fire or civil agency efforts. As an example, the TMC has served
1.1 Institutional Framework as a focal point of operations for the Secret Service and FBI
during Presidential visits to the region. In addition, the design
1.1.1 Joint Planning and Development of the center has provided eight console positions for the San
Diego Sheriff's Office should they ever be needed during
A focal point of the institutional framework that supports emergency operations or should their primary facility become
TIM operations is the cooperation and coordination that was inoperable (1).
fostered by Caltrans and CHP through the planning and devel- CHP is operational in the center 24 hours a day, 7 days a
opment of the regional TMC. A shared vision of operational week. Caltrans staffs the TMC 24 hours a day, from 8:00 p.m.
requirements and supporting systems, as well as joint plan- Sunday through 8:00 p.m. Friday.
OCR for page 55
H-2
1.2 Roles and Responsibilities Cellular calls from the region are routed to the PSAP, and calls
from call boxes are routed to this PSAP through a private call
1.2.1 Caltrans center. CHP also dispatches patrol officers from the TMC.
CHP is also the lead agency for the Multidisciplinary Acci-
Caltrans operates and maintains approximately 1,000 miles dent Investigation Team (MAIT). The MAIT program was
of freeways and highways in the San Diego region (District established to conduct in-depth investigation and analysis of
11), which is the southernmost part of California. The Traf- major traffic collisions throughout the state. MAIT activities
fic Operations Department is responsible for the safe and include determining the cause of crashes through
efficient operation of all the urban freeways in the district,
which includes supporting TIM functions. Caltrans functions · Reconstruction of accidents and
supporting TIM include traveler information dissemination · Analysis of contributing factors, including human, envi-
and traffic management. ronmental, and/or mechanical factors in the pre-crash,
A focal point of the traveler information dissemination at-crash, and post-crash states (2).
activities performed by Caltrans is maintaining a traveler infor-
mation website. Information provided by the website includes CHP also staffs a service desk from within the TMC that
coordinates the dispatch of resources to the incident scene.
· Real-time traffic speed on individual links of urban
CHP also supports traveler information functions through
freeways,
the broadcasts of traffic reports. A uniformed officer in the
· Snapshots of closed-circuit television (CCTV) images on
media office of the TMC broadcasts 37 traffic reports through-
I-5 and the I-5/I-805 and the I5/I-805 merge area (images
out the day.
are updated every 90 seconds),
· Current lane closures for construction and maintenance
activities, 2 INFORMATION-SHARING METHODS
· Textual descriptions of operational problems and poten-
tial sources of delay on the freeways, and 2.1 Face-to-Face
· A link to the CHP website that provides filtered out-
puts from the CHP computer-aided dispatching (CAD) From within the TMC, Caltrans and CHP staff communi-
system on the location and type of incidents. cate face-to-face in the course of managing incidents. The con-
trol room at the TMC has been specifically designed to support
Additional traveler information functions supported by this type of interaction by arranging consoles in a manner that
Caltrans include the operation and control of more than 20 facilitates operator-to-operator contact. This arrangement has
dynamic message signs (DMSs) and a highway advisory radio proven especially beneficial because it provides the opportu-
(HAR) system. CCTV images are also disseminated to the nity to communicate openly as the incident evolves without
media through this center. The traveler information system being dependent on communications or data systems. This
has become a vital element of Caltrans operations while man- collaboration enables Caltrans to execute the most appropri-
aging the impacts of traffic incidents. ate response in terms of traveller information and traffic man-
Traffic management functions supported by Caltrans agement strategies.
include control of reversible high-occupancy vehicle (HOV)
lane and ramp-metering stations and the collection of flow data
that are used, among other reasons, to support traveler infor- 2.2 Remote Voice
mation functions. The operations of these facilities are many
times adjusted to support operations during major incidents. CHP communications officers located in the TMC are
Caltrans also operates service patrols in the San Diego responsible for dispatching Caltrans service patrols. The only
region through the previously mentioned cooperative agree- direct interaction between Caltrans and public safety agen-
ment with SANDAG. Service patrols are operated Monday cies at the incident scene takes place during the crash inves-
through Friday during the morning and afternoon peak peri- tigation phase. Although the service patrols are not active
ods. The primary function of the service patrol is to assist participants in managing major incidents, they are responsi-
drivers of disabled vehicles and to help move their vehicles ble for moving disabled vehicles out of the roadway and pro-
from travel lanes if needed. Service patrols do not actively par- viding motorist assistance. This function helps to reduce the
ticipate in managing traffic incidents. probability of secondary incidents and helps to restore the
facility to normal flow. To enable the service patrols to inter-
act with their dispatchers, the service patrols are equipped
1.2.2 CHP with special Caltrans radios. The radio system only enables the
service patrol operator to communicate with the dispatcher in
CHP operates a secondary public safety answering point the TMC. The service patrol operator cannot be a part of a
(PSAP) from within the TMC 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. radio talk group with CHP officers in the field.
OCR for page 56
H-3
Caltrans also has a direct phone line with the City of San Prior to implementing the existing CAD interface, an
Diego Fire and Rescue Department. Essentially, the Caltrans attempt was made to develop a CAD interface between
dispatcher is able to communicate with the fire department CHP and Caltrans. The InterCAD project was designed
using speed dial. Caltrans rarely uses this system because CHP to facilitate improved incident management in the San
is usually the agency that contacts the fire department. Diego County portion of the Southern California ITS Prior-
ity Corridor through the transfer of critical incident data
between agencies using dissimilar CAD systems (3). The
2.3 Text Messaging
original concept for this ambitious project was to tie together
Currently, Caltrans has an interface to the CHP CAD sys- the CAD systems of the CHP Border Division, the San
tem. Caltrans characterizes this system as a "sanitized" CAD Diego PD, the San Diego Sheriff's Department, and the
system. The system enables Caltrans operators in the TMC to advanced traffic management system (ATMS) operated by
enter additional detail into an incident record, but the record Caltrans District 11. However, because of a variety of tech-
remains external to the CHP CAD system. Essentially, the nical and institutional issues, the system was never fully
CAD system is publishing incident data to Caltrans, which implemented.
further processes the data in order to initiate the most appro-
priate response to the incident. This response is in the form
of traveler information dissemination and traffic manage- 3 REFERENCES
ment. Caltrans has the capability to archive the CAD incident
data provided by CHP; however, Caltrans has opted not to do 1. http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist11/operations/tmc1.htm
this archiving. 2. http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/mait.html
CHP has also provides an interface to the Caltrans traveler 3. Churchill, Bruce W., and Scanlon, Pam. Information Sharing
information website. The interface enables users to view all and Incident Management. Presented at the National Conference
active incidents that have been entered into the CHP's CAD on Traffic Incident Management--A Road Map to the Future.
system. Data cannot be downloaded, archived, or processed. March 1113, 2002. Irvine, California.
