Operational Traffic Incident Management for Safe, Secure, and Productive Transportation Systems
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Send to friendCommand, Control, and Interoperability Center for Advanced Data Analysis (CCICADA)
Supported Critical Infrastructure Sector: Transportation Systems
Recently, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a partner of the CCICADA Center, completed the Traffic Incident Management for Safe, Secure, and Productive Transportation Systems (TIM) project. The TIM project was a $1.7 million effort sponsored by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYS-DOT) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the New York State Police. TIM began in June 2004, and concluded in December 2010, with the goal of improving the safety of our transportation systems by improving traffic incident management.
The early work in the project included extensive systems analysis of all agencies in the Capitol District with traffic incident management responsibilities. These agencies include city, county and state police, the New York State Thruway Authority and the NYS-DOT. Based on this analysis, the technology solution that will provide the largest perceived improvement was determined to be the integration of data among the responding agencies dispatch systems. As one agency receives information of an event, the new system will electronically pass that information to the other agencies, instead of the phone call transfers. This will reduce the time it takes to notify all agencies, reduce the chance for error while transferring information and keep all agencies better informed of the status of the event as time progresses.
As part of this project several micro simulation models of the Capitol District have been built. These simulation models were built to depict real events, such as evacuations at events at the Empire State Plaza or the Bruno Stadium (minor league baseball stadium). These models were used in conjunction with table top exercises to aid in the training process for emergency personnel.
These exercises use computer simulation software to model incidents to the transportation network. The result of these simulations will aid decision makers in understanding the effects of various alternatives prior to the event.