Planning and Implementing Multimodal, Integrated Corridor Management: Guidebook (2020)

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106 Chapter 6 - Planning for Operations and Maintenance of an Integrated Corridor Management System Overview The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the operations and maintenance process for an ICM program, and the processes and plans agencies should perform in preparing for operations and maintenance of their ICM system. Planning is needed to transition from the design and deployment of an ICM to the Operations and ongoing maintenance of the ICM, especially as travel patterns, operational polices, and expertise of the operators change. ICM Operations Start-up Major Issues and Challenges Beginning operation of an ICM requires planning, coordination, and assurances that the systems and processes are in place and agreed to by stakeholders. Many of the ICM systems deployed have begun operations with less than full capabilities. This requires agencies to understand the expectations of each phase of start-up, beginning with systems testing and acceptance. Potential Solutions Prior to beginning systems acceptance, all stakeholders should be provided training on the ICM system, the processes and procedures for operations, and their roles and responsibilities, so that they better understand what they are reviewing and how the system should work. All stakeholders should, at a minimum, view the ICM system acceptance testing. A “soft launch” approach was used by both Dallas and San Diego to iteratively improve the ICM system and gain confidence among stakeholders that the ICM was providing expected results. Over a 6-month period the “soft launch” built to an official “go-live” for both sites. During the first phase of the soft launch, training was provided, and stakeholders received recommendations from the ICM, but did not act upon the recommendations. Stakeholders met monthly to review the recommendations to confirm or make small modifications to the response plans and rules of the decision support system. Staffing Major Issues and Challenges ICM requires some specialized staffing or training of existing operations staff to operate and maintain the ICM corridor’s technical and operational components. Agencies responsible for these components face growing needs for a fully competent workforce to provide technical and managerial expertise as staff members and consultants. Recruiting and developing such expertise is complicated by generational shifts within the larger professional and technical workforce and the rapid pace of technological innovation as well as by the particular challenges government agencies face in a competitive labor market. Potential Solutions NCHRP 20-07 – Task 408, Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) Workforce Guidebook provides for development of TSMO (and ICM) capabilities in several specific areas: model position descriptions for describing DOT staff at entry-level and advanced levels of TSMO responsibilities,

107 supporting documentation for characterizing TSMO entry-level and advanced technical and management positions, and guidance on effective and exemplary practices for recruitment, professional development, and retention of TSMO staff. There are multiple ICM organizational staffing models developed by USDOT for the ICM pioneer sites to consider, to include a consortium organization, virtual management organization, and a dedicated ICM manager within an agency to lead and coordinate a corridor’s ICM operations. Operations Plan Major Issues and Challenges Stakeholders need to understand their ongoing roles and responsibilities, and a plan should be developed to document the activities needed to effectively operate the ICM program in a coordinated, multiagency, multimodal basis. Potential Solutions The Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Plan describes how the ICMS will be used in daily transportation operations and maintenance activities. The Plan addresses the activities needed to effectively operate the ICM system in a coordinated, multimodal basis including the following: • System operational vision, goals, objectives, and strategies • Agencies that will be responsible for operations and maintenance • The capabilities of the operating agencies • Systems and tools that will be involved in operations and maintenance • Policies and procedures that are to be used in operations and maintenance • Daily operational activities and procedures • Operating and Maintenance Costs and Funding Sources • How system performance will be measured • An organizational framework for ongoing management and coordination • Actions needed to transition to full operations, including training needs The Operations and Maintenance Plan is separate from operating manuals and maintenance manuals used in daily operations by agencies or provided by system or component developers or suppliers. Those documents describe detailed procedures, whereas this Plan describes resources, organization, responsibilities, policies, and activities. The Dallas ICM O&M Plan is available at: https://www.its.dot.gov/research_archives/icms/resources/doc_details.cfm?document_id=95&from=sea rch Media Communication Marketing for ITS project and programs is important for the public to understand the technology and the reason for these systems. Several ICM sites have employed marketing companies to assist them with public facing systems, marketing and communication to executives, and media communication. The Dallas ICM site used an advertising agency to design the 511DFW logo, and the “look and feel” of the website. As part of the ATCMTD grant FDOT was awarded for parts of the Orlando ICM program, a marketing and communication company is developing a branding strategy and media communication plan to explain the

108 various components and reasons for ICM. These companies are useful to assist technical groups in explaining ICM in a way that is relatable and understandable. Major Issues and Challenges Travelers in most regions do not care that multiple agencies are operating the transportation network for their daily trips. Many ITS systems are used by the media (especially CCTV) to communicate the current conditions of the roadway network. ICM provides an expansion of the potential benefits to the travelers, that the media can assist with helping the public understand. The FDOT D5 ICM program is being assisted by an outreach and media consultant to assist in the branding of the ICM program, explaining how detour routes will be recommended, the benefit of using those routes, and why travelers should use the recommendations that the local agencies are providing. Potential Solutions Marketing Plans One of the planning aspects that ICM sites should consider is the development of a marketing plan, which provides agencies with an approach for marketing their ICM program to the public. The Plan should include Based on existing marketing plans that have been done for 511 systems, ICM projects, and other public facing services provided by transportation agencies, a marketing plan, at a minimum, should include the following information: • Analysis of the current situation – Provide an overview of the transportation environment, its users, and current performance metrics. • Marketing Objectives – What is the objective of marketing the ICM program. Are there specific metrics or performance measures that are being pursued? • Launch Strategy – How and when will you begin marketing the ICM program, using which media, how often. • Media Plan – How will you inform the media of your program? Which information, and how will it be provided? Using simplified, specific information has been found to be easier for the media to use. Example plans and documents with marketing plan components are available at: Dallas ICM Marketing Plan: https://its.dot.gov/research_archives/icms/resources/doc_details.cfm?document_id=96&from=imple mentation_deployment Monterey Bay Area 511 Implementation Plan: https://sccrtc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/mba-511-implementation.pdf How to change travel behavior through individualized marketing: https://511.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/How- to_Change_Travel_Behavior_Through_Individualized_Marketing.pdf Post-Deployment Agreements Ensuring that the ICM program continues once the system is deployed and operations begin is important to the continued operation of the system. The Dallas ICM program is a good example of what can occur if the agreements are not in place. Each year after the Federal grant was complete, the stakeholder agencies

109 individually decided if they would continue to fund the program. Eventually, parts of the system were no longer funded, and only the traveler information system (511DFW) was continued. The DSS’ maintenance funding was cancelled and the simulation model became out of date, which caused the DSS to be taken offline. Major Issues and Challenges Participating entities may seem committed to the ICM project initially, but there are no guarantees that they will carry out their roles and responsibilities once the ICM system is deployed. Initiating formal agreements is one way to help ensure these commitments, whether they are institutional, operational, or technical. For some stakeholder relationships, depending on their level of involvement with the project, an informal agreement may be enough. Potential Solutions As discussed in Section 0, operational agreements govern the roles, responsibilities, limitations, and tactical interactions among ICM system operators engaged in real-time day-to-day decision-making within the corridor. Developing agreements to document the roles, responsibilities, and funding requirements of each agency who will be a part of the ICM operation is important. Monitoring Using the performance metrics of interest identified during the planning phase, as discussed in Section 0, is important to monitor the effectiveness of the ICM program. Real-time dashboards, weekly reports, and monthly review meetings have all been used by ICM system deployers to continuously monitor and improve their ICM. As an example, the Dallas ICM developed monthly reports and the operations committee met monthly to review the status, performance, and issues from these reports. The map in Figure 22 displays the incidents that occurred in the corridor and triggered a response plan by the DSS by location. The map shows the cross-streets along the US-75 corridor, and the number of response plans implemented by direction and cross-street.

110 (Source: USDOT: Final Report-Dallas Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) Demonstration Project) Figure 22. Response Plans Implemented during the Demonstration Phase by Direction and Location. Figure 23 displays a chart of the number of incidents within the corridor by month and the number of response plans recommended by the system for implementation. These metrics provided the operational agencies with a way to measure the impact of cooperatively responding to incidents. This also shows that many of the incidents within a region do not require a full ICM response, because they are localized and may not impact the corridor enough that a multiagency response is needed. Red = Southbound Incidents Bl N thb d

111 (Source: USDOT: Final Report-Dallas Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) Demonstration Project) Figure 23. Response Plan Recommendations during Demonstration Major Issues and Challenges Measuring the impact and benefits of the ICM is important for continuous improvement of the ICM system, for communicating its benefits to policy makers, and to ensure the system is operating as expected. Potential Solutions Performance Measures obtained via analytics and dashboards can be used to provide important statistics that can help to detect and correct issues found within a transportation network and the ICM system. A performance measures system should provide analytics and graphical dashboards that will allow the regional stakeholders to view archived, statistical data related to the ICM. The dashboards should support multiple profiles corresponding to the multiple views and roles in the system ranging from seeing high-level status, to corridor-level performance, to very detailed status of arterial, transit, and freeway data. Summary and Conclusion For system operations and maintenance, stakeholders should realize that the system is always evolving. Crash patterns and travel patterns are always changing due to construction, changes in the economy, and changes in your transportation network. Stakeholders need to be flexible and understand that ICM is a process, and that it takes time and rigor to ensure the ICM evolves as traveler needs within the region change.