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Site Study Descriptions

The planned special event operations of six locations in five states are profiled in this section. These sites represent the wide range of size and scope of planned special events (e.g., large vs. small, one-time vs. cyclical, etc.). Specifically, each site represents at least one of the following characteristics:

Transportation officials from prospective jurisdictions were interviewed and literature reviews conducted to determine which locations in the United States fit the criteria listed above. The following six sites were selected:

The site studies are presented in the following sections. The sections are organized in descending order by population size of the sites studied, progressing from large urban through small urban or non-urban areas, and concluding with a rural site.

Montgomery County, Maryland

Montgomery County, Maryland is a part of the Washington, DC metropolitan area. The county has a population of just under 1 million,3 many of whom take to the roads to attend local county events or travel to nearby counties or jurisdictions to participate in regional events. The county itself hosts a range of special events each year, including large-scale golf tournaments such as the Kemper Open, the FBR Open, the U.S. Open, and the annual AT&T National Tournament, an event hosted by Tiger Woods that has drawn crowds in excess of 100,000.4 The county is also home to a variety of other traffic-generating events such as the annual Montgomery County Agricultural Fair, the county's Ramadan festival, the Pike's Peek foot race, and multiple 4th of July celebrations held simultaneously in different areas of the county. The Montgomery County Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPWT) manages traffic operations throughout the county and has a long history of special event management using ITS.

Approach

Montgomery County's goal for planned special events management is to provide for safe, convenient access to and from events while also providing an acceptable level of service for other transportation system users. To achieve this goal, the county uses an advanced traffic management system, the hub of which is the county's traffic management center (TMC), shown in Figure 1.

Photograph of Montogomery County's TMC, which includes a wall of video monitors so managers can monitor traffic at several of locations.
Figure 1. Montgomery County's Traffic Management Center

The TMC is the central location for monitoring and controlling traffic and sharing information about transportation conditions in and around special events. As part of the public safety communications center, the TMC enables representatives from police, fire, 9-1-1, and the emergency operations center to be co-located at the facility. Planned special events are operated out of the TMC, which also oversees central communications for Ride-On, Montgomery County's transit service. Periodically, the command center functions for a special event will be moved to a satellite location where ITS equipment within the event's vicinity are remotely monitored and controlled, leaving the TMC to manage the rest of the county's transportation system. ITS technologies that are used for operations management at the TMC include:

Photo of a portable dynamic message sign indicating to drivers that the lot they are approaching is full.
Figure 2. Portable Dynamic Message Sign Redirecting Event Attendees to Available Parking

Montgomery County leverages two particular congestion-fighting tools that are unusual in planned special event operations: the county's aerial surveillance aircraft and the motorist assistance patrol, which operates on major arterial roads rather than the freeways.

The county is currently completing the design for a new $30 million distributed signal system to replace its centralized 1970s-era system. The county, which will begin construction on the new system in 2008, expects that the new system will help with incident management at planned special events. In addition to traffic signal prioritization for emergency vehicles and buses, the new construction will involve building servers and networks, developing a new telecommunications plan, and eventually transferring all the old traffic signals to the new system. This new, state-of-the-practice system will allow operators to exert greater control over the traffic signal system through the expanded ability to use multiple timing plans, new responsive/adaptive traffic control mechanisms, and access to more detailed status information from the signal controller. Distributed control of intersections  will also reduce the potential for single-point failures. In addition, unlike the older system it is replacing, the new system has the capacity to expand, allowing operators to incorporate additional ITS technologies in the future.

DPWT officials know the importance of getting information out to travelers who may not be familiar with local roads, or who have not attended a particular event previously. To this end, the county uses a comprehensive set of traveler information tools to assist motorists with information about their trips to and from the venues that host planned special events. These tools include the following:

Best Practices

Montgomery County leverages two congestion-fighting tools that are unusual in planned special event operations: the county's aerial surveillance aircraft and the motorist assistance patrol, which operates on major arterial roads rather than the freeways.

Aerial Surveillance

Aerial surveillance is used frequently during special events of various types in Montgomery County. With radios for county and state police, county and state DOTs, fire and rescue, and the broadcast media, the county's airplane (shown in Figure 3) is in a unique position to provide overall incident management in a highly mobile platform. The plane's aerial perspective provides valuable real-time input to the computerized traffic signal system operators (transportation engineers or technicians) as well as to incident commanders on the ground. Equipment on the plane can feed video images simultaneously to the mobile command center on the ground as well as to the TMC, showing operators a high-level view of what is happening in various places on the ground virtually simultaneously. Access to this "big picture" allows TMC operators to react quickly to incidents and to monitor and address event-related traffic buildup as it occurs.

Photograph of a propeller airplane sitting on the tarmac in front of a hangar at the Montgovery County Airport.
Figure 3. Montgomery County's Aerial Surveillance Aircraft

The presence of aerial surveillance also assists with parking management at events. One of the plane's day-of-event assignments is to fly over event parking areas at regular intervals and provide a visual estimate of available parking capacity. These estimates allow the TMC staff to anticipate when primary lots will become full so operators can make informed decisions about when to begin redirecting traffic to satellite parking areas.

Arterial Service Patrol

DPWT also operates a motorist assistance patrol on the county's arterial roads, making Montgomery County one of the few jurisdictions to offer this service on arterial streets rather than on freeways. The arterial service patrol is typically used to respond to disabled vehicle calls and traffic incidents, both during normal daily operations and during planned special events. The program's focus is on safely removing vehicles from travel lanes as soon as possible. The responding patrol vehicle is used to relocate damaged or disabled vehicles to nearby parking lots or to side streets near the point of the incident where drivers may safely wait for a privately arranged tow truck to move vehicles to their ultimate destinations. An added benefit of using these patrols during special events is that they can be deployed as probe vehicles in and around the special event area to identify incidents or problems, support aerial parking lot surveillance with visual assessments, and relay information back to the command center. The drivers are also available to relocate or change messages on portable dynamic message signs as necessary during events.

"Keep regular contact with your other agency contacts. You can't develop those relationships in the heat of the battle. If you don't know the people beforehand, gaining confidence and cooperation is a much more difficult process when the heat is on."

— Michael Kinney Montgomery County Department of Public Works and Transportation

Local and Regional Cooperation

The Montgomery County DPWT has a more than 30-year history of working with other agencies within the county, with state agencies, and with other jurisdictions. Although there is no special events planning committee per se, DPWT is one of a team of special events operations and planning staff that includes representatives from police, fire and rescue, the Maryland State Highway Administration, and others, as needed, who work closely on operational planning and execution for planned special events.

Montgomery County boasts a number of recurring annual planned special events. Because the agency representatives who coordinate planned special events are frequently in discussions about upcoming events with each other, there is a strong foundation for regular communication and coordination among them. This regular interaction translates into an informal process for holding post-event debriefings ("hot washes") to discuss lessons learned from those events in which problems arise.

In addition to developing good working relationships within all levels of government within the county, DPWT also participates extensively in efforts involving cooperation with neighboring jurisdictions. Being a part of the National Capital Area, Montgomery County representatives frequently work with their counterparts from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and the District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT). During planned special events that are expected to draw large crowds or affect traffic in adjacent areas, there is frequent communication between county staff and their colleagues in these adjacent jurisdictions. DPWT lays the foundation for successful day-of-event operations by establishing strong relationships well in advance.

Lessons Learned

In the National Capital Area, many state and local agencies are located in close proximity to one another, which leads to increased opportunities for regional involvement and interaction.

Despite this geographic proximity, points out Michael Kinney of the Montgomery County Department of Public Works and Transportation, it is an important part of the planning and execution process to understand that each agency operates in a manner that is consistent with its own goals and operational concepts. The key, Kinney says, is to learn what these goals are and keep them in mind when moving forward with an event. When agencies each have an understanding of what their partners' plans are, the participants come to know what to expect during the actual planned special event operations. An agency knows what its counterparts are doing because it knows not only what their counterparts' plans call for, but also what their goals are and how their peers plan to achieve these goals operationally. This understanding on both the institutional and the individual level contributes to well-coordinated planning for special events on a regional as well as local level.

Boston, Massachusetts

Boston, Massachusetts is a harbor city of more than half a million residents6 that plays host to more than 12 million visitors each year, many of them attending annual events such as the Boston Harborfest, the city's famous St. Patrick's Day Parade, the Boston Marathon, and thousands of smaller art and cultural events. The city is also home to a variety of sporting events, including games played by Boston's Red Sox baseball team, Celtics basketball team, and Bruins hockey team.

Approach

The City of Boston's efforts to manage the many planned special events it holds each year have been complicated since the early 1990s by the ongoing road construction work surrounding the Central Artery Project (often called "The Big Dig"), a huge, multi-billion dollar project to replace the six-lane elevated highway that previously ran through the center of the city with an eight-to-ten-lane underground expressway directly beneath the existing road. The new expressway terminates at its northern limit in a 14-lane, two-bridge crossing of the Charles River. The project also included extending the Massachusetts Turnpike from its former terminus south of downtown Boston through a tunnel beneath South Boston and Boston Harbor to Logan Airport.

The Central Artery Project was completed in 2007. Consequently, the ITS elements are now operational. The city intends to leverage those ITS assets to monitor and improve traffic flow in and around event areas. ITS infrastructure in this area includes dynamic message signs, traffic cameras (some owned by state agencies such as the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority) and 80 rebuilt signalized traffic intersections that are integrated with the city's TMC.

Best Practices

The Boston Transportation Department (BTD) participates in the city's special events committee, which is hosted by the Boston Police Department (Boston PD). The committee has representatives from many city departments, including, among other agencies, the parks department, fire and rescue, and emergency medical services (EMS). The committee uses a formal meeting process with regularly scheduled full committee meetings. The committee also schedules special meetings to discuss large planned special events, such as the Major League Baseball's World Series and the annual Harborfest celebration, which is attended by nearly 2 million people. When planning for Haborfest, the special events committee spins off a separate committee and invites state representatives from the Massachusetts Port Authority to participate in the event planning.

BTD has worked with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Massachusetts Port Authority to gain the authority to control signals owned by these state entities within the city of Boston. These signals are now connected to the city's traffic control center, and their timings are controlled centrally by the City of Boston.

Central Access to Video Images

In addition to various department representatives working together as a closely knit team, BTD uses a TMC to gather information and oversee traffic operations from a central location. From the TMC, BTD controls traffic cameras, the traffic signal system, and dynamic message signs; BDT also works with its other agency partners to respond to incidents and traffic events as necessary.

BTD has a tri-party agreement to share video feeds among the BTD, the Boston PD, and the Massachusetts Highway Department. This agreement came about in part as a result of installation of numerous closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras as part of the Central Artery Project The cameras in the vicinity of the work zones have been increasingly helpful to BTD and the Boston PD as the project has neared completion. Although the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority is the owner of the new roadway and the ITS equipment installed on it, the agency has agreed to continue allowing the BTD access to the cameras' feeds for daily operations.

Traffic Signal Control

In addition to centralized video feeds, BTD has the authority to control signals that are owned by other entities within the city of Boston. For example, certain intersections are equipped with traffic signals that are owned by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, which is responsible for state parks within the greater Boston area. Other intersections, particularly around the harbor, may be equipped with signals owned by the Massachusetts Port Authority. BTD worked with these state agencies to have their signals connected to the city's traffic control center, where signal timing can be controlled centrally in response to special events congestion or traffic incidents.

While it remains the owning agencies' responsibility to perform maintenance and upkeep on their respective traffic signals, the BTD is able to control the timing on these signals as necessary to improve traffic flow.

Local and Regional Cooperation

One of the largest special events held in Boston in recent years was the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in 2004, held at Boston's Fleet Center (Figure 4). Planning for the convention began more than a year in advance, before the city and DNC planners had even signed a formal agreement. Planning efforts included not only local and state agencies, but also the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Secret Service.

Aerial photograph of Boston's Fleet Center.
Figure 4. Boston's Fleet Center

Due to the large number of federal, state, regional, and local agencies involved and the lack of a single person having final authority and responsibility for overall planning, in late 2003, the DNC Host Committee began convening weekly meetings that included all transportation and security officials whose agencies had an interest in the event. Attendees were decision-makers and heads of operations for the various agencies. Ultimately, a solid working relationship among the BTD, the Boston PD, other emergency services providers, the state police, the Massachusetts Highway Department, the Massachusetts Port Authority, and other state agencies with jurisdiction over affected roadways developed during this process. This relationship among state and local agencies continues to characterize the BTD's approach to planned special events.

From the BTD's perspective, the most challenging part of the process was determining how to close I-93, the vital central artery that runs through the city's downtown area, in a way that did not create gridlock on the surface streets. When the day of the event arrived and implementation of the shutdown began, the city's access to the extensive CCTV system played a vital role in the process, enabling operations managers to watch road crews placing cones as they closed lanes in advance of the full closure of I-93. Because operators had the benefit of monitoring what was happening 15 to 20 miles outside of Boston, they were able to judge traffic conditions with a great degree of accuracy. As a result, BTD was able to keep the roadways open for several hours longer than had been planned because impacts were immediately apparent. Keeping the roadways open longer resulted in improved mobility for travelers as well as improved public safety, because roadways were open for use by emergency responders for a longer period.

Despite all the effort that went into creating the plan, however, perhaps the most important aspect of the operation was that it was dynamic. Due to the ability of operators to view conditions in real-time, TMC operators were able to judge the flow of traffic moving in the area of the event and were able to determine that a delay in the planned lane closures was appropriate. As a result, the public had the benefit of an additional four hours of open roadways. In addition, the public outreach campaign was extremely valuable. Knowing in advance which roads would be closed and for how long encouraged fewer Bostonians to attempt to reach areas of the city with restricted access, as shown in Figure 5, reducing the overall transportation demand.

Photograph of I-93 during the DNC with channelizing devices used to close off the left travel lane.
Figure 5. Lane Restrictions on I-93 during the DNC

BTD's future goals related to enhancing transportation operations for planned special events include upgrading the Department's permitting system, improving coordination with the Executive Office of Transportation and Public Works, installing more variable message signs (both fixed and portable), sharing data and video, and implementing traffic signal prioritization for buses and emergency vehicles with the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority

Lessons Learned

BTD staff members feel that it is vital to hold advance meetings to review all details associated with each event and to establish contingencies. While the event is actually underway, it is also important to have the same core members of the planning group available to modify the plan as necessary. For example, during the 2004 DNC event, BTD attributes much of the event's success to Massachusetts State Police leadership. If the state police had to respond to an emergency, they were proactive in sharing the information with the other stakeholders. If there was time to have a discussion about any necessary changes due to an emergency or unexpected event before the actual change to the plan was made, calls were made to other agency representatives. When possible, the police made every effort to discuss the changes to determine any other potential impacts that could result from their modifications.

The greatest benefit of the regularly held pre-event meetings is to keep the players working together throughout the event. The level of commitment shown by the participating agencies to pre-planning, integration, and teamwork is the best indicator of a successful operation when the day of the event arrives.

Anaheim, California

The City of Anaheim's Traffic and Transportation Division has taken an active approach to managing planned special events throughout the city. A large part of the city's success with transportation operations for planned special events can be attributed to two factors: increased coordination activities and the utilization of ITS applications.

In addition to normal highway traffic operations, the Anaheim's TMC is responsible for managing traffic for thousands of planned special events every year. The City of Anaheim's has a population of approximately 350,000 residents,7 a number that often doubles to more than 700,000 any time there are multiple events at the Anaheim Convention Center, the Disneyland® Park, Knott's Berry Farm amusement parks, or the area's sports arenas. Anaheim's is home to the Disneyland® Park and receives visitor overflow from the nearby Knott's Berry Farm theme park in nearby Buena Park. Disneyland® and Knott's Berry farm rank second and 13th, respectively, in popularity among North American amusement parks. Together, the two parks drew more than 18 million visitors in 2007.8 In addition, the Convention Center holds hundreds of planned special events every year, including major sporting events, musical concerts, auto shows, and conferences. The convention center, which covers more than 800,000 sq. ft., boasts that it is the newest and largest facility of its kind on the West Coast, as well as being one of the largest convention centers in the world.9 Downtown Anaheim is also home to several athletic arenas, including the Honda Center (Anaheim Ducks) and Angel Stadium of Anaheim (formerly known as Anaheim Stadium and Edison International Field).

Approach

On many occasions, two or more major planned special events occur simultaneously and in close proximity to one another. For example, there may be concurrent sporting events at the Honda Center and Angels Stadium, which are located approximately two miles apart. (The close proximity of Angel Stadium of Anaheim and the Honda Center can be seen in Figure 6.) Managing traffic operations during simultaneous events is a major challenge for the Anaheim TMC because there are a limited number of roadways that can be used to aid with traffic flow before or after an event.

Aerial photograph of Honda Center and Angels Stadium that highlights the proximity between the two venues.
Figure 6. Aerial Photo of Honda Center and Angels Stadium

Due to the large number of events throughout the area, transportation officials from the Anaheim TMC have taken a proactive approach to planned special event management. In addition, the City of relies heavily on ITS applications to help handle the increased traffic volumes and congestion often associated with planned special events. The Anaheim Traffic and Transportation Division has invested more than $58 million in updating its TMC and ITS infrastructure.

Elements of the ITS infrastructure include dynamic message signs, closed-circuit television cameras, enhanced communication systems, and the Split, Cycle, and Offset Optimizer Technique (SCOOT) traffic signal control system.10 There are also more than 300 signalized intersections located throughout the city. During planned special events, the TMC advises the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) where to have commuters exit the highway if an alternate route is necessary as a result of heavy traffic or incidents.

Best Practices

Coordination and Planning

Improved coordination is a vital part of managing planned special events. In many instances, there are several agencies or organizations involved in the planning, operation, and management of the planned special event. As a result, it is imperative that all event stakeholders work together to meet their desired goals. To that end, the Anaheim TMC holds weekly coordination meetings to discuss upcoming events. The coordination meetings are often attended by representatives from Disneyland® Park, Anaheim Department of Public Works, Anaheim Police Department, local utility and construction companies, event generators, and parking facility operators. The focus of the meetings is to discuss upcoming event details and identify any activities that may disrupt traffic operations. Some of the key topics typically covered during the meetings include the following:

"Continuing weekly coordination meetings between event generators, law enforcement, parking venue operators, and traffic management staff is a key factor toward successful planned special event management in Anaheim."

— John Thai, Principal Traffic Engineer Anaheim Traffic and Transportation Division

During the weekly coordination meetings, representatives from the Anaheim TMC serve as the facilitators among participating agencies. In addition to discussing the details for upcoming planned special events, the coordination meetings provide a forum for participants to conduct debriefings to share lessons learned, both positive and negative, from past events. In addition, the debriefings are used to identify new activities or strategies that can aid in future planned special events. City staff found the weekly coordination meetings to be a powerful tool for improving traffic operations during planned special events. The meetings enabled transportation agencies to better prepare for upcoming events and greatly increase the levels of coordination between event stakeholders, resulting in improved traffic operations for planned special events.

Traveler Information

During planned special events, the Anaheim's TMC often uses dynamic message signs to help disseminate traveler information and improve driver awareness. The signs are often used to share information on event details, optimal routes, road closures, and parking information. One of the unique practices of the TMC is to put the dynamic message signs in place several days prior to the start of the planned special event. The intent of this placement is to warn motorists of the upcoming event and provide them with enough time to find and become familiar with alternate routes. As a result, motorists from local communities are less likely to use the same roadways that serve the planned special event if they have already identified alternate routes, helping to reduce roadway congestion and traffic delays.

Putting portable dynamic message signs in place several days prior to the start of the planned special event enables motorists to find and become familiar with alternate routes.

At present, the Anaheim TMC has a combined total of 13 permanent and portable dynamic message signs. Prior to the planned special event, TMC staff members place the portable dynamic message signs at strategic locations or on high-capacity roadways to help increase the level of motorist awareness. One of Anaheim's permanent dynamic message signs is shown in Figure 7.

Photograph of a post-mounted dynamic message sign displaying a traffic message over a 3-lane arterial roadway.
Figure 7. A Permanent Dynamic Message Sign in Anaheim

If pre-event messages are too long to be displayed on the dynamic message signs, the city uses the highway advisory radio (HAR) system to broadcast live or pre-programmed messages relating to the planned special event. These messages are also broadcast several days prior to the event, allowing motorists to find alternate routes. Over the past several years, the Anaheim TMC has also made a greater commitment to improving its dynamic message signs information management activities. Specifically, TMC staff members work closely with planned special event stakeholders to review the quality, accuracy, and impact of pre-event message content. While examining message content, TMC staff members also carefully evaluate the messages' impact on local communities or neighborhoods. Message content planning is a critical component of the Anaheim TMC planned special event traffic management activities.

Traffic Surveillance

The City of Anaheim has a sophisticated traffic surveillance system that is often leveraged to aid with planned special events. Several TMC staff reported that they felt that the CCTV surveillance was the most important element of the city's planned special event management. Currently, the Anaheim TMC manages more than 65 CCTV cameras located at strategic points throughout the city. In the near future, the city is expected to increase the number of cameras to more than 100. During planned special events, Anaheim TMC staff use cameras to observe traffic operations or flow. In addition, many of the traffic cameras are used to monitor the ingress and egress operations at several sporting venues, including roadways located near Angel Stadium and the Honda Center. The cameras are constantly monitored to observe traffic conditions, including local streets and major arterials. TMC staff have the ability to make adjustments to traffic signal timings to mitigate congestion and improve traffic flow among vehicles arriving at or leaving an event. If heavy traffic persists, the TMC may coordinate with Caltrans to identify alternate routes or exits that aid with planned special event traffic operations.

Lessons Learned

Weekly coordination meetings among stakeholders in Anaheim's provide the opportunity to review past events, coordinate upcoming events, and cement relationships among the agencies that participate in the meetings. Organized meetings where the participants get to know each other and learn how to work together set the stage for day-of-event activities. Knowing what colleagues are doing and how they are responding to events within the context of their roles enables each party to make the best decisions possible for promoting public safety and the smooth flow of vehicles in the event area.

One of Anaheim's best practices is to put portable dynamic message signs in place several days prior to the start of a planned special event to inform motorists of the event and give them sufficient time to find and become familiar with alternate routes. This practice reduces the number of local motorists who are using the roadways that serve the event and contributes to decreased congestion and traffic delays associated with the event. TMC staff members work closely with event stakeholders to review the quality, accuracy, and impact of pre-event message content, and the TMC takes special care to assess the impact of event traffic on local communities or neighborhoods. Message content planning is an important aspect of how Anaheim's prepares for planned special events.

Pasadena, California

The City of Pasadena, population 150,000,11 is located in Southern California, approximately ten miles northeast of Los Angeles. The Pasadena Department of Transportation (DOT) is responsible for actively managing traffic operations throughout the city, including major highways and local roadways. The Pasadena TMC is also responsible for managing hundreds of planned special events throughout the area, including downtown Pasadena and surrounding areas. These events, which range in size from major recurring events to small one-time occasions, often result in increased traffic flow and congestion throughout the area.

The largest annual event in the Pasadena area is the Rose Parade, which draws approximately 1 million visitors, as estimated by the Pasadena Police Department.12 During the parade, roadways throughout the area are closed to accommodate the parade route and provide sufficient capacity for spectators. In addition to the Rose also hosts several major collegiate sporting events throughout the year. Every January, the Rose Bowl collegiate football game is played in the Rose Bowl Stadium (Figure 8), which has a capacity of more than 91,000. The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), also plays its home football games at Rose Bowl Stadium. The traffic associated with these events can cause major congestion on Pasadena's roadways and lead to driver frustration.

Aerial photograph of Rose Bowl Stadium.
Figure 8. Rose Bowl Stadium

Approach

To manage planned special events effectively throughout the Pasadena area, the TMC has implemented several ITS applications and employs various methodologies to help mitigate traffic congestion that may occur in the areas around planned special events venues. The TMC also uses these ITS applications and methodologies to improve the services it provides both to event attendees and local residents.

The Pasadena TMC, shown in Figure 9, is used to monitor and control traffic operations throughout the city. The TMC is comprised of a computerized traffic signal control system that monitors Pasadena's traffic signals 24 hours per day. The system also collects traffic data that may be used by TMC staff members to make signal timing adjustments, helping improve traffic flow during both day-to-day operations and planned special events.13 The TMC also actively manages the ITS devices that have been deployed throughout the area. The following key components comprise Pasadena's ITS infrastructure:

Photograph of the Pasadena TMC, which includes several computer monitors and wall-mounted video screens.
Figure 9. Inside the Pasadena TMC

The purpose of this ITS infrastructure is two-fold: to provide event attendees with accurate and timely traveler information and to enable the TMC to make changes in the traffic plan in a timely, proactive manner.

For the duration of a planned special event, the Pasadena DOT serves as the lead agency responsible for managing traffic operations throughout the area. Although the Pasadena Police Department is in charge of lane or roadway closures prior to an event, all closures are based on coordination with and direction from the Pasadena DOT. TMC staff members also work closely with representatives from Caltrans to identify optimal traffic routes and divert roadway traffic during planned special events.

Over the past several years, technical advances in ITS applications and improved coordination activities have greatly improved the Pasadena DOT's ability to manage traffic operations associated with planned special events. The following sections discuss some of the key methods and ITS components that have helped improve planned special event traffic management throughout the Pasadena area.

Best Practices

Coordination, Planning and After-Action Reports

Pre-event coordination meetings are a key element in the planning and management of planned special events in the Pasadena area. Representatives from the Pasadena DOT conduct monthly coordination meetings with the Pasadena Police Department. In addition, weekly coordination meetings are held with event generators, venue sponsors, and other stakeholders. The intent of these meetings is to discuss the details of upcoming events, including the venue size and type, available parking facilities, stakeholder participation, traffic routes, lane closures, and agency roles. The Pasadena DOT also has a dedicated special event planning unit with the mission of providing a comprehensive review of upcoming events and associated traffic management activities. Prior to major planned special events, the planning unit works in conjunction with TMC staff members to develop inbound and outbound traffic plans. In addition, routine plans are developed and implemented for recurring events such as football games or parades. At the conclusion of most planned special events, the Pasadena DOT and participating agencies conduct debriefings to identify best practices and lessons learned. Through these debriefings, the DOT is able to identify both positive and negative activities that took place during a previous planned special event. The lessons learned from this analysis enable the Pasadena DOT to improve future planned special event management activities and levels of coordination.

Traveler Information

The Pasadena DOT relies on dynamic message signs to improve driver awareness and provide the motoring public with traffic information. The dynamic message signs are used for day-to-day operations and during planned special events to provide motorists, including venue attendees, with the latest traffic updates or event details. Key types of information displayed on the dynamic message signs include the following:

Currently, the 10 dynamic message signs the DOT employs have been strategically located along major arterials throughout the city. An example is shown in Figure 10.

Photo of a post-mounted dynamic message sign along a road leading to Rose Stadium.
Figure 10. A Pasadena Dynamic Message Sign

During major planned special events, such as the annual Rose Parade, dynamic message signs are a critical tool for providing informational updates or alerts to a large number of motorists. Pasadena uses dynamic message signs to provide informational updates to motorists during major planned special events such as the annual Rose Bowl.

TMC staff identify and travel to problem areas based on video images collected at the TMC. The combination of CCTV cameras and dedicated traffic personnel on site to deal with issues helps maintain continuity of traffic operations throughout a planned special event.

These informational updates improve traffic flow and reduce congestion levels. The updates enable motorists to find alternate routes that may reduce pressure on primary roadways. Dynamic message signs enable traffic engineers to provide quick and efficient updates to motorists who rely on this information during planned special events.

Traffic Surveillance

The Pasadena DOT's traffic surveillance system is a key component for managing planned special events throughout the city. Currently, the system is comprised of 20 CCTV traffic cameras that are linked directly to the TMC. The cameras are located at strategic points along Pasadena's roadways. In addition, three intersections are equipped with red light cameras. All video images are continuously monitored on the TMC video wall. During planned special events, staff members observe traffic operations, including points of congestion, traffic flow, and incidents. These observations improve the capabilities of TMC staff to manage planned special events. For example, video images enable the TMC staff to monitor arterial roadways and make proper signal timing adjustments during events such as the Rose Bowl. These timing modifications often improve traffic flow at ingress and egress routes during the event.14

During special events held at Rose Stadium, TMC staff members often conduct field observations and assist with any incidents that may arise. Staff members identify and travel to problem areas based on video images collected at the TMC. The combination of CCTV cameras and dedicated traffic personnel helps maintain continuity of traffic operations throughout a planned special event.

Lessons Learned

The City of Pasadena's TMC staff found that monthly coordination meetings and the weekly meetings that include the Pasadena DOT, police, event generators, venue sponsors, and other stakeholders are especially valuable. These coordination meetings assist the city's transportation planners in determining the details of upcoming events and allowing them to assess and set up plans for resolving potential problems associated with available parking facilities, traffic routes, signal timing, and lane closures.

Another practice that Pasadena has adopted is to have TMC staff members conduct field observations during large special events. City transportation planners have found that it is helpful for staff members to identify problem areas based on video images collected at the TMC and travel to those areas to provide on-site assistance and real-time communication with the TMC. The City of Pasadena has found that the combination of CCTV cameras and dedicated traffic personnel helps maintain continuity of traffic operations throughout a planned special event.

Daytona Beach, Florida

The City of Daytona Beach is a medium-sized city with a population of approximately 68,000.15 The city hosts between 55 and 60 planned special events each year, of which 12 draw crowds in excess of 100,000. Some of the larger events include the Turkey Rod Run in November, one of the largest antique car shows in the country; the 10-day Daytona Bike Week event held each spring; the family-oriented Biketoberfest in October; Daytona Spring Break for college students in late March and early April; and NASCAR's famous Speed Week, which kicks off the racing season with the Daytona 500 in February. Aa second NASCAR race, the Coke Zero 500, is also held each July at the Daytona International Speedway. Figure 11 shows the Speedway and the surrounding area. Figure 12 shows a pedestrian walkway leading to the Speedway.

Aerial photograph showing the Daytona International Speedway and highlighting the major interstates and interchanges in the vicinity.
Figure 11. The Daytona International Speedway and Surrounding Roadways

Photograph of a pedestrian bridge leading to the Daytona International Speedway.
Figure 12. Pedestrian Walkway Leading to the Daytona International Speedway

Approach

The City of Daytona Beach has a unique approach to planned special events transportation management on the day of the event: maximum utilization of all the roadways to accommodate the huge influx of traffic for large events. The influx of 100,000 people or more for large events, on top of the existing population, is a substantial drain on an infrastructure that normally needs to accommodate far fewer motorists. ITS applications help Daytona Beach maximize the capacity of its limited infrastructure.

ITS infrastructure in the area includes 58 miles of fiber optic cable within the city limits, 66 video surveillance traffic cameras, microwave connections to remote cameras that are critical to operations, and 141 traffic signals within the city, 112 of which are interconnected and managed with a signal control system linked into the city's TMC. The city also makes use of the state's 511 Information system as well as highway advisory radio to disseminate information to incoming travelers on event day.

An additional resource the city is able to tap into is the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District 5 regional TMC. The city is well integrated with the regional TMC. On large event days, Daytona Beach has an FDOT District 5 representative on site at the Daytona Beach TMC who has a direct link to the regional TMC. This person has the authority to operate about 40 permanent dynamic message signs on I-4 and I-95 and within the city on state arterial routes.

Best Practices

Local and Regional Cooperation

One of the City of Daytona Beach's best practices in managing transportation during planned special events is communication with other agencies. The city has hosted several traditional, large-scale annual events over the course of more than 50 years, such as the 50th running of the Daytona 500 in 2008, which drew crowds in excess of 230,000, and Daytona's Bike Week, which began in 1937 and has grown to become an event that draws more than half a million attendees each year. (Figure 13 shows Bike Week by night.) As a result of the experience of holding these increasingly large events every year for so many years, the city agencies have developed excellent relationships among themselves and with representatives from larger county and state transportation and law enforcement agencies.

Photograph of a bike week event at night.
Figure 13. Bike Week by Night

Limited in size and resources, the Daytona Beach Traffic Engineering Department relies on its close, longstanding relationship with the Daytona Beach Police Department as well as fire, rescue, the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), Volusia County Traffic Engineering Division, the state's Road Ranger motorist assistance service, FDOT, and other agencies to meet the requirements for manpower, equipment, planning, and coordination for the huge special events it hosts.

Although there is no special events committee per se in Daytona Beach, every spring the city's special event stakeholders, including the Chamber of Commerce, which coordinates task forces and vendor permitting for many events, meet with their county and state agency peers to review each large planned special event that was held over the past year. The focus of this annual meeting is to examine each event individually and identify what worked as planned, what worked less well, and what issues arose that should be addressed in the planning for the next year's event.

Notably, this after-action review seeks inputs from the Speedway and local citizens as well as the people in the field, such as the traffic supervisors and police. NASCAR also solicits feedback from event attendees and forwards comments and suggestions (both positive and negative) to the city.

Remote Video Access, Signal Control, and Dynamic Message Signs

Two tools that the city finds particularly useful are its traffic surveillance cameras and traffic signal control system. The city's traffic cameras are full pan-tilt-zoom with a 360-degree panoramic view capability. This wide range of motion enables operators at the TMC to monitor traffic flows and respond quickly if a problem occurs.

During past NASCAR races at the Daytona International Speedway, the city used a 100-foot tower to perform visual observations of nearby traffic conditions. However, the view was limited to the area in front of the Speedway. Now, however, the city has access to FDOT's Daytona Area Smart Highway (DASH) system, which provides traffic information through video surveillance throughout Volusia County and the surrounding region, including the I-4 and I-95 corridors. This wide-area surveillance shows how much traffic is on its way to Daytona Beach, enabling operators to prepare for traffic influxes, backups, and other problems related to traffic spillover.

The city's traffic signal system, which is interconnected with the traffic surveillance system, is accessible remotely. Traffic managers can access both video feeds and the signal control system from desktops in other locations and select pre-programmed timing modifications or modify timing manually in real time.

Furthermore, FDOT District 5 operates dynamic message signs on I-4, I-95, and state arterials in and around Daytona Beach. (Figure 14 shows an example sign.) The city finds these signs useful enough that it is hoping to add some of its own on major arterials and around event areas, since Daytona Beach has both a fiber optic backbone in place and the switches to implement some of the signs when they are acquired. At present, the city is looking at placing permanent dynamic message signs around the city's Ocean Center Complex, a central municipal area that contains a convention center and auditorium for shows and entertainment events. The complex is currently undergoing expansion, and the city believes that adding signage for major events at that facility would promote the steady flow of traffic on event day.

Photo of a pole-mounted dynamic message sign on a state arterial road.
Figure 14. An FDOT Permanent DMS on a State Arterial Directing Event Traffic

The city is also assessing whether to deploy ITS solutions such as parking directional signs or small, portable dynamic message signs in select locations that would direct motorists to parking during special events. While it has a few portable dynamic message signs, rather than expand its small inventory, the city generally prefers to place signs at known problem areas within the local jurisdictional roads. These permanent dynamic message signs can also be leveraged for hurricane evacuations on the east side and along the coastline. This potential added benefit helps to justify the expense and effort of adding the new devices to the city's assets.

The Communications Challenge

The City of Daytona Beach has found that one of its greatest challenges in effectively managing operations for planned special events involves wireless communications. In the past, the city has attempted to use different wireless solutions, but found that none of them was robust enough to meet its needs. The city has found that some solutions appear to work well prior to an event, but on the day of the event, they turn out to be less capable than expected. This limitation is particularly true during NASCAR races, which generate a great deal of radio frequency (RF) interference due to cellular phones, media transmissions, and participant utilization of RF bandwidth for team communications during the race.

"When you've got 200,000 people out there at the Speedway and they're all trying to talk on their cell phones, you can forget about talking to your equipment [via cellular phone]."

— Michael Marcum, City of Daytona Beach, Transportation Division Administrator

The wireless challenge has also extended to the city's portable dynamic message signs, contributing to the city's desire to stick with permanent signs that can be hardwired into the current communications system. At one time, the city used cell phones to communicate with its trailer-mounted dynamic message signs. That solution did not work very well, however, according to Michael Marcum, the city's Transportation Division Administrator. "When you've got 200,000 people out there at the Speedway and they're all trying to talk on their cell phones, you can forget about talking to your equipment," he explains.

The goal of having a robust wireless communication system is to avoid having to send a field unit to the dynamic message sign locations to verify that the units are showing the intended messages. As a temporary solution, the city has located its portable dynamic message signs close to locations that have video surveillance so the traffic center operators can confirm the messages are correct through video observation. However, the city continues to look for an affordable wireless solution that will work as well on event day as it does during the period leading up to the event.

Measures of Success

The City of Daytona Beach examines safety and delay metrics to gauge the success of its planned special events management. The city has a perfect record of no pedestrian incidents at the Speedway, which is remarkable considering the number of vehicles that move in and around the area. For the 50th running of the Daytona 500, the city deployed 10,000 ft. of snow fencing to keep people out of major roadways. The fencing also helped to channel pedestrians to intersections or mid-block crossings that were operated by law enforcement and coordinated through the traffic division.

The city has two mobility goals for NASCAR races: to get all spectators into the Speedway in time for the start of the race and to get all the spectators out of the Speedway two and a half hours after the conclusion of the race. Based on observations from the TMC, Marcum estimates that the city is able to achieve this goal about 90 percent of the time.

Similarly, in planning for Daytona's Bike Week, which is attended by 400,000 to 600,000 people, the city works to identify areas where there have been crashes in the past. By studying crash reports, city staff attempt to identify issues related to each crash and alleviate those issues for future events whenever possible.

Lessons Learned

The most important factor in planned special events management, suggests Marcum, is to have a fluid plan and be open to change. In any growing community, infrastructure changes from year to year, businesses enter (or leave) the community, roadways are built, and signals are added and need to be coordinated. These changes are all in addition to the normal operational changes that occur in a community. Plans must be flexible enough to take all changes into account.

One of the City of Daytona's best practices is its annual spring after-action review of all of the previous year's planned special events. During these reviews, the city seeks to accomplish three key tasks: (1) identify significant changes in traffic generators (such as local businesses), road infrastructure, and installed equipment; (2) review field reports from on-site staff and stakeholders from previous events; and (3) identify any underutilized capacity and consider ways to better employ that capacity for the upcoming events.

Marcum points out that it is also important to remember the needs of the local citizens as well as the individual attendees. The City of Daytona Beach recognizes the need to keep event participants out of local neighborhoods by closing off those streets at the main event corridors, so there is little or no encroachment of event traffic into local neighborhood areas. In addition, Marcum notes that traffic planners should take into account that local citizens, as well as event participants, need to move through the city during events. A measure of success for any event, according to Marcum, is how many residents indicate that they are able to move around the event areas and get where they are going with minimal delay.

Dutchess County, New York

Located halfway between New York City and the state capital of Albany, Dutchess County is comprised of approximately 300,000 residents.16 The county is bordered on the east by the state of Connecticut and on the west by the Hudson River. Dutchess County is famous within the region for hosting an annual agricultural fair that generates more than 500,000 visitors over the course of the six-day event, making it the second largest agricultural fair in New York State, the largest scheduled traffic event in the region, and the primary traffic-generating event this rural county experiences each year. Despite its proximity to urban areas, the county is rural in nature and has a limited infrastructure, with much of the county characterized by rural roads and a few heavily traveled two-lane state routes. The county is a busy traffic area, however, with some intersections and state roadways operating at or near capacity on normal, non-event days.

In the late 1990s, the State of New York embarked on a program to fund several different ITS investments, including a new Hudson Valley Transportation Management Center for the Hudson Valley-Westchester region, of which Dutchess County is a part. At the time, the New York State Police (NYSP) and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) entered into a partnership to develop transportation and incident management solutions that used a combination of teamwork and technology. NYSP and NYDOT had several goals for the program, including finding an event they could use to demonstrate the value of new technologies, determining the reliability and robustness of the technologies, and training operators to use these new technologies in a real-world environment. As a planned special event, the Dutchess County Agricultural Fair provided an ideal opportunity to accomplish these goals.

Approach

Although the fair is a county event, the principal roads leading to the fairground are state roads. a result, NYSP had primary authority over the traffic plan. In conjunction with NYSDOT, observed the 1999 fair in order to identify problems that might be resolved or mitigated through the use of the state's new ITS equipment. Once this list of possible improvements was compiled, planning began for the 2000 fair.

In its observations of the 1999 fair, NYSP identified the principal challenge as being the state road leading to the fairground. This simple two-lane road with two signalized intersections north and south of the fairground was already operating at capacity on most non-event days. Due to the volume of attendees seeking to enter and depart the fairgrounds, the effects of the backup at these points were staggering, resulting in congestion that affected two towns and one village, overflowed across one of the bridges over the Hudson River, and blocked access to a local hospital. This traffic was exacerbated by the presence of commercial vehicles trying to navigate through the traffic to reach non-fair-related destinations.

The NYSP's primary approach to resolving this congestion was to use portable ITS equipment in conjunction with a proactive traffic plan to reduce the bottleneck at the fairground entrance/exit point, and to eliminate commercial vehicles on the fairground access road. To accomplish these goals, the NYSP traffic plan used a combination of traffic signal control, traveler information updates, Highway Emergency Local Patrol (HELP) service vehicles, and communications system improvements.

Best Practices

Planners knew in advance that being able to control the signals at the two intersections immediately to the north and south of the fairground would be critical to the success of the traffic plan. During a pre-deployment evaluation, observers determined that each signal had unique characteristics. The intersection to the south was a village intersection that supported both pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The crosswalk at this location was very popular, and the intersection typically operated at capacity on most non-event days. Consequently, the plan had to optimize traffic flow, yet prevent a green phase from lasting so long that pedestrians would become impatient and cross against the signal. As a result, the plan included microwave detectors to maximize vehicle throughput while minimizing the effect on pedestrian traffic.

To the north of the fairground, the main state road leading to the fairground intersected another state road at a large signalized intersection; much of the traffic approaching the event came through this intersection. During peak periods, nearly all traffic exiting the fairgrounds passed through this intersection as well. Observers determined that most of the significant northbound traffic backups were attributable to this signal being unable to handle the necessary volume to keep traffic moving. To mitigate the volume constraints, planners put a CCTV camera at that location and tied it into software that allowed NYSP to control the signal. Figure 15 shows the signal control cabinet for the intersection.

Photograph of personnel installing a cabinet containing the electronics for CCTV camera and signal control systems.
Figure 15. CCTV Camera and Signal Control Software Installation

The result was that the intersection was under constant surveillance by operators at a mobile command center that was set up at the fairgrounds to oversee management activities for the traffic plan. Without traffic management oversight during peak periods, vehicle demand could have potentially caused a severe backup as travelers attempted to move northward. Due to the signal control software installation, however, command center operators were able to extend the green phase to meet demand, prevent backups, and accommodate pedestrians at the intersection. Planners attribute the elimination of much of the delay seen in previous years to the effectiveness of the technology that enabled them to manage the intersection with CCTV and signal control software in real time.

Traveler Information

A primary goal of the NYSP traffic plan involved adding capacity to the two-lane route in front of the fairground. This goal was achieved by using traffic cones to create a center lane and pushing the northbound and southbound lanes onto the shoulder, as shown in Figure 16, effectively creating a three-lane pattern. This pattern was designed to facilitate ingress and egress by keeping incoming and outgoing traffic separate. Because the traffic plan called for all egress traffic to be directed to the northbound lanes, however, there was concern that there would be confusion among attendees who wished to head south at the exit to the fairgrounds. Consequently, traveler information needed to be disseminated both in advance of the event and during the event so travelers who were unfamiliar with the new traffic patterns would not attempt to turn against the flow of traffic or make dangerous U-turns.

Photograph of a service vehicles monitoring and ensuring smooth traffic flow on the fairground access road.
Figure 16. Service Patrol Trucks Monitor Modified Traffic Pattern on Fairground Access Road

As part of its traveler information strategy, NYSP not only disseminated fair access and diversion route information to local and regional media, but also utilized 10 solar-powered portable dynamic message signs that were pre-programmed with instructions and information for travelers along the fair routes. These signs were programmable via cellular phone, so operators could update the displayed messages depending on time of day or traffic conditions. Since there are a limited number of roadways that can be utilized to traverse the county, signs were placed on roads as far south as Poughkeepsie, nearly 20 miles away, to enable drivers to take alternate routes.

Because the presence of commercial vehicles inadvertently being caught in fair traffic had been a contributor to congestion in previous years, an important goal of the traffic plan was to keep commercial vehicles away from the fairground access roads. To accomplish this goal, NYSP created messages directing commercial vehicles in the region to alternate routes that would detour them around the fairgrounds without significant delay.

Pre-fair deployment and testing revealed some problems. Two of the dynamic message signs would not hold their charge, and others experienced connectivity difficulty with their cellular modems. Due to coordination between maintenance personnel and the sign vendor, who had staff on site during deployment, these issues were quickly resolved prior to the first day of the fair and event operations were not affected.

In conjunction with the portable dynamic message signs, a portable HAR was used to disseminate diversion route information and incident notification messages. Like the dynamic message signs, the HAR was solar-powered and programmable via cellular phone, so that pre-recorded messages could be selected from the mobile command center. Figure 17 shows how the dynamic message signs and HAR systems worked together.

Photograph of a portable DMS and portable HAR unit at the Dutchess County Fairground.
Figure 17. Portable DMS and Portable HAR Unit at the Dutchess County Fairground

"A comprehensive strategy, with good pre-planning and cooperation across disciplinary lines, will ensure that the ITS technologies deployed are successful. Police, fire, EMS, transportation agencies, highway maintenance and construction supervisors, event planners, emergency management organizations, and the media all need to be included."

— Henry DeVries, I-95 Corridor Coalition

According to Henry DeVries of the I-95 Corridor Coalition, who created the traffic plan and managed the annual ITS deployment from 2000-2003 for the NYSP, there were virtually no trucks or buses traveling on the fairground access roads during the deployments.

Communication and Coordination

As with any planned special event, communication and coordination were keys to success for the Dutchess County Fair Rural ITS Demonstration Project. Aa long list of stakeholders including law enforcement, emergency responders, transportation agencies, highway maintenance and construction supervisors, event planners, local representatives, state agencies, emergency management organizations, and the media all had important roles to play in ensuring the traffic plan's success.

Most of the spring of 2000 was spent in coordination and communication among the state, local, and private stakeholders whose cooperation contributed to the success of the ITS demonstration project. For example, once the Mayor of Rhinebeck, the village where the fairgrounds are located, became involved during the planning stage, he was persuaded to accompany NYSP representatives on door-to-door visits with the owners of local shops that were located on the main street affected by the traffic plan. These visits and face-to-face interactions garnered the shopkeepers' support for eliminating on-street parking during the fair—something they had refused to agree to in previous years.

Another important aspect to this proactive communications plan was the effort made to coordinate with construction programs at the state, county, and local levels to ensure that there were no planned construction projects scheduled to occur in conjunction with the county fair. In 2000, there was one major construction project underway on the Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge, one of the three area bridges across the Hudson River.

The Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge is controlled by the New York State Bridge Authority and, at the time, was undergoing a multi-year rehabilitation and resurfacing project. Due to the fact that road shoulders had been removed from the bridge and the travel lanes had been constricted by concrete barriers, planners quickly determined that a lane closure or incident on the bridge during the peak exit period would lead to a gridlock situation. After several discussions with the Bridge Authority, the construction management consultant, and the contractor for the project, NYSP was able to reach an agreement whereby construction would be suspended during the fair's peak period (noon to 11 p.m.) each day. The Bridge Authority also agreed to have a HELP traveler assistance truck patrol the Bridge and provide immediate service to disabled vehicles along the span.

The county and local village police, fire, rescue, and emergency medical services were given access and input to the traffic plan, as was the county's 9-1-1 center. This inclusionary approach was a critical link in the process due to the proximity of the hospital to the fairgrounds. As a result of these discussions, NYSP implemented a communications link with the county 9-1-1 system through the ITS regional TMC. With the link in place, when a medical emergency occurred and an ambulance needed immediate access to the hospital, the county's 9-1-1 system would immediately advise the NYSP operations center, which would then inform the mobile operations center about the emergency. The mobile operations center at the fair could then respond by holding certain lanes open or clearing a path for the emergency vehicles in advance of their arrival in the area of the fair.

Aside from individual emergency events, pre-event planning also extended to discussions about disaster planning in the event of a weather emergency, terrorist attack, or malfunction of major fair equipment. Plans were developed that outlined how state police and emergency response organizations would respond to different types of emergency incidents, how they might quickly adjust HAR messages to facilitate an evacuation of the facility, and with whom individuals would need to coordinate in the communications infrastructure.

The Wireless Challenge

Wireless technologies were vital to event-day communications and posed the biggest challenge to the successfully managing the 6-day event. At the time, the Hudson Valley TMC, including NYSDOT and NYSP staff, all HELP vehicles, and selected state and county police dispatch centers used two-way digital cellular devices carried by NEXTEL. However, cellular towers in this rural area were virtually unknown at the time, meaning that operators would be unable to communicate during the event.

NYSP planners contacted NEXTEL in the spring of 2000 to ensure that the cellular communications signals could be extended to cover the fair area. The carrier offered to provide a portable cellular tower ("cellular on wheels") that provided digital cellular connectivity within a three-mile radius (Figure 18). During the planning process, workers at Verizon Communications, the telephone carrier responsible for the T-1 connection used by the portable tower, went on strike. NYSP and NYSDOT worked diligently to convince the carrier of the public safety benefit that this connection represented, and their efforts resulted in success. Verizon complied with the request and provided the necessary service to activate the portable cellular tower despite the strike.

Photograph of a portable cellular tower.
Figure 18. Eighty-Foot Tall "Cellular on Wheels" Tower

Measures of Success

Event organizers point to the elimination of delay as their primary measure of success. In prior years, delay for vehicles exiting the parking lot at times exceeded four and a half hours. During the 2000-2003 period, planners were able to eliminate that delay entirely. In addition, there was no fair-related traffic congestion in the surrounding villages as there had been in previous years, access to the hospital was at no time blocked by traffic queues, and the presence of non-fair-related commercial vehicles was virtually eliminated.

During the 2000 deployment, in an attempt to keep track of how many vehicles were exiting the fairgrounds, what the vehicle gaps were, and what the vehicle speeds were, organizers affixed computerized magnetic traffic counters at the exit points. Traffic count data was downloaded each night to allow planners to determine traffic volume.

The following year, planners opted to use acoustic detectors instead. Figure 19 shows a screenshot of a traffic volume data download from acoustic traffic counters in 2001. Upon comparing the two systems, it was determined that the data provided was of comparable quality, that there were no significant discrepancies in the traffic counts, and that there was no appreciable benefit in using one system over the other.

Screenshot of a spreadsheet and a chart showing traffic volume data.
Figure 19. Traffic Volume Data Downloaded from Acoustic Traffic Counters in 2001

The Dutchess County Agricultural Fair ITS Demonstration project concluded in 2003. Due to the costs involved in deploying the full range of ITS equipment used by the NYSP and NYSDOT planners, the state was unable to continue to fund the annual deployment. The county also determined it was unable to fund the continued use of the complete set of ITS tools available. although the county does borrow dynamic message signs to warn area drivers and direct incoming traffic, it no longer uses the HAR station. The county also continues to utilize the traffic plan designed by the NYSP that prevents gridlock at the entrance to the fairgrounds. Because many fair attendees return each year, people have become familiar with the modified entrance and exit routes, which eliminates much of the confusion attendees experienced during the first implementation of the modified traffic pattern.

Lessons Learned

As with most large-scale events, NYSP noted that the importance of communication and coordination with state, county, and local organizations cannot be overstated. In rural areas, planners should take into account the inputs and needs of small businesses, which play an important role in the economy of many rural areas. Planners should be willing to make time to consider business owners' concerns and make every attempt to address those concerns and accommodate their needs.

Efforts should also be made to coordinate with construction programs at the state, county, and local levels to ensure that there are no planned construction projects scheduled to occur on the day of event. Unanticipated roadwork in a rural area with limited access routes could have a significant negative impact on an otherwise well-prepared traffic plan on the day of event.

It is also important for rural areas that have the use of only a limited number of roadways for event traffic to consider rerouting commercial vehicles and other non-event-related vehicles around the area of the event venue. Communicating with neighboring localities and counties and working with them as necessary to establish alternate routes is also important. Placing dynamic message signs on roadways leading into event areas to help provide decision points for travelers who wish to avoid these areas can improve ease of travel throughout the region of the event. Publicizing these events and advising the region's population about alternate routes and diversions through media outlets will also help eliminate unnecessary use of roadways in the vicinity on event day.

In terms of technology, it is important to plan ahead. If a new piece of equipment will be used for an event, it is important to set it up and test it in advance of the event, so that any problems or failures can be worked around or resolved ahead of time. Older equipment should also be checked prior to deployment to ensure it is in reliable working condition.



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6U.S. Census Bureau (2008). http://www.census.gov.

7U.S. Census Bureau (2008). http://www.census.gov.

8Themed Entertainment Association/Economics Research Associates (2008). Attraction Attendance Report 2007. http://www.connectingindustry.com/downloads/pwteaerasupp.pdf.

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11U.S. Census Bureau (2008). http://www.census.gov.

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13City of Pasadena, Department of Transportation Website (2008). http://www.cityofpasadena.net/trans/trafficoperations/pdf/Traffic_Signal.pdf.

14City of Pasadena, Department of Transportation Website (2008). http://www.cityofpasadena.net/trans/trafficoperations/pdf/Traffic_Signal.pdf.

15U.S. Census Bureau (2008). http://www.census.gov.

16U.S. Census Bureau Website (2008). http://www.census.gov.

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