Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery in the Transit Industry (2008) / Chapter Skim
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Research Results Digest 87 March 2008 International Transit Studies Program Report on the Spring 2007 Mission EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, RESPONSE, AND RECOVERY IN THE TRANSIT INDUSTRY This TCRP digest summarizes the mission performed March 16–March 31, 2007, under TCRP Project J-03, "International Transit Studies Program." This digest includes transportation information on the organizations and facilities visited. This digest was prepared by staff of the Eno Transportation Foundation and is based on reports filed by the mission participants.
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The members of each study team are fully briefed prior to departure. The 2-week mission has a triad of objectives: (1)
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did recovery proceed? What measures are in place now within the transit system to prevent, respond to, and recover from such events?
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agencies. The systems visited do not have their own transit police forces; nor do their executives have the authority or funding for disaster preparedness that U.S.
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named a "Special Administrative Region (SAR) ." Located on the southern coast of China, it covers approximately 421 mi2 and includes the New Territories (a portion of the mainland)
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and 562,296 m2 of commercial space, among them, Hong Kong's tallest buildings, and Two International Finance Center. In 2008, MTR will complete construction on the tallest building in the Hong Kong/Kowloon area.
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while maintaining the operation of unaffected trains. • The Traffic Controller responsible for the operation of individual MTR lines, to include monitoring train service, handling incidents, and returning service to a regular schedule following an incident.
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Replacements and back-up personnel are also identified. Employees are cross-trained for continuity of operations and to ensure essential functions, such as payroll, are uninterrupted.
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meeting in 2005, KMB performed a risk assessment to identify and mitigate potential weaknesses in their system that could be exploited by protesters or other parties. Threats that were identified and related responses included: • Threat: Intentional blockage of key bus corridors Response: Developed an emergency diversion plan • Threat: Disruption of diesel fuel supply Response: Arranged delivery of fuel from multiple suppliers; developed plan to refuel peak busses only • Threat: Blockage of depots Response: Deploy buses from outside the depot • Threat: Cyber attacks Response: IT department conducted drills on information recovery • Threat: Suspicious packages Response: Continuing education of employees; development of a "quick-tip" card.
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Regarding the bus system, several upgrades were described: To address air quality concerns, many older buses are being replaced by energy-saving "green" buses. New buses are equipped with electronic busstop announcements, IC card readers, electronic monitors, and passenger-monitoring devices.
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public relations and economic implications of the Games and the need for all Chinese to put their "best foot forward" at this significant moment in China's history. Below are brief summaries of the presentations given to the ITSP team at selected Beijing government agencies as well as the United States Embassy.
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before and during the big events or possibly temporarily relocating a large number of residents out of the city on a "holiday." Embassy staff recalled that during the outbreak of SARS in 2003, Beijing officials successfully "shut down" the city. They expected the government would be able to assert similarly effective control for the Games.
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edge with lay public involvement to develop a "best practices" guide. In 2006, officials of China's national government celebrated the complete rebuilding of Tangshan that had occurred over the prior 30 years.
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Metropolitan Subway Corporation (SMSC) , the Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation (SMRT)
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As with the Ministry above, planning and response related to terrorism is directed by national security officials. Kobe City and Hyogo Prefecture, Japan Kobe, the capital city of Hyogo Prefecture, is a prominent Japanese port located west of Osaka.
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Kobe's Three Year Emergency Plan for Housing Reconstruction was implemented in July 1995 to provide 82,000 housing units. Between February 1995 and November 2003, more than 200,000 units were constructed, far exceeding the initial goal.
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specifying vital contact information and individual response actions. Tokyo, Japan Tokyo is Japan's capital, and one of the world's preeminent cities.
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calm and to deliver clear directions for evacuation if necessary. Ministry of Land, Infrastructure & Transportation (MLIT)
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across 1,699 stations. The company has invested heavily in technology -- evidenced by the Super Urban Intelligent Card, Suica, a combined fare and charge card.
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to exercise complete control over the rail component. Once a transit situation occurs that requires a response from either of these agencies, the government controls the incident to its conclusion.
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they have for weather-related events (e.g., snow, floods)
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• Integrated Emergency Response Centers • Control Centers The following outlines the benefits of each of the above technologies and describes the efficiencies realized by the agencies on the mission itinerary that deploys the systems. Business Continuity Planning In current times, the list of potentially businessdisrupting events is long: computer viruses, power outages and blackouts, fires, natural disasters, and terrorist events.
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members did not hear whether an inter-agency plan for the whole city exists. KMB appeared to have less developed programs for disaster preparedness and response.
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Tokyo Metro Co.
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stated objective of the USDOT is to deploy 75 integrated ITS systems by 2006. The ITSP mission team explored the use of ITS in Asia and whether government mandates had been established to encourage interoperability between systems and transit agencies.
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also uses facsimiles and in some cases dedicated phone lines to communicate with other agencies. KMB is considering making changes to their radio system to allow for interoperability through the use of 800 MHz radio systems.
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disseminate information and images on these vehicles to a central dispatch center. This is useful not only for controlling traffic congestion problems, but also for monitoring suspicious vehicle activity.
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These entities use the 119 system to determine dispatch order as well as mobilize equipment and manpower. While the appropriate teams are on the move to the scene of the incident and/or at the scene of the incident, on-site support situation information is disseminated promptly through a satellite navigation system and wireless radio.
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• Train Traffic Control -- Trains are controlled automatically. However, if service disruptions occur, schedules are adjusted through cooperation between the ICC and the site operation region.
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The need for an enterprise approach that consolidates the various business and technology related emergency response and disaster recovery plans is needed. Inter-agency communication was a challenge for most of the countries where the BCP, if existent, only addresses the agencies' internal communications and response needs and did not address the required regional coordination efforts.
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movements in and out of the depots. The KCRC system uses Automatic Train Regulation, as does the MTR-OCC.
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and the TOPIS operational headquarters are all priorities during a crisis. TOPIS would follow the lead of the Central Government in the event of a major disaster, man-made terrorist-related disasters, or in the case of a major natural disaster such as earthquakes or SARS incident.
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plans and provide assistance and direction to employees and customers as well as interface with responding agencies. Public Communications The openness and means of public communications varied among the transit systems visited on the mission.
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the mission team found it fairly easy to move about China's capital city, they were not afforded exposure to the process used for informing the public about threats or actual events. During a visit to the US Embassy, staff told the ITSP team that during the outbreak of SARS a few years prior, the Chinese government was able to respond quickly and "shut down the city." Yet, there was no information available on exactly how this task was accomplished.
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the population, the Asian cities lacked the infrastructure to fully mobilize, evacuate, and relocate millions of residents. At many systems the evacuation plan is to get everyone home safely and have residents shelter in place.
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relay information from the transportation department to television stations. Beijing The topography of Beijing is relatively flat, and officials report that the city is not prone to natural disasters.
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Kobe The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995 provided the template for emergency preparedness and evacuations brought about by natural disaster. City residents were evacuated for two reasons: (1)
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They also noted that cultural attributes and political context play important roles in shaping how emergency planning and management are undertaken and how the public engages in the process. One manifestation of these factors is the very active involvement of the national governments in each of the countries visited.
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Transportation Research Board 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 These digests are issued in order to increase awareness of research results emanating from projects in the Cooperative Research Programs (CRP)
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