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Project Highlights
Integrating Security into Small MPO Planning Activities
When disaster strikes, being prepared can make all the difference. That's why Mark Lofgren, a researcher with the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute at North Dakota State University is working with the Fargo-Moorhead (F-M) Metropolitan Area Planning Organization to develop transportation security plans.
Because so much of what occurs in a community depends on transportation, planning for disruptions is essential for managing security issues and for promoting safe recovery. "A robust transportation system is a fundamental part of our society. Any disruptions to the flow of transportation, whether man made or natural, can lead to inconveniences, economic loss, and life and death situations," Lofgren says.
The goal of Lofgren's study is to help the F-M area meet the U.S. Department of Transportation mandate to incorporate security into its planning documents and processes. In addition, the plan will serve as a model for smaller MPOs looking for ways to integrate and sustain security initiatives in their own transportation planning activities.
The mandate was part of the 2005 SAFETEA-LU federal highway legislation. As a result of that legislation, MPOs are paying specific attention to security elements in transportation planning. The law distinguishes safety planning and security planning as two distinct elements of planning activities.
However, in many instances security activities may be related to other planning factors such as safety, accessibility, and efficiency. Federal instructions recognize the relationships and encourage MPOs to address security in ways that are efficient and effective.
"For a long time, planning has been an integral part of transportation and the number of stake-holders involved in the planning process is continually expanding," Lofgren notes. "MPOs, government councils, local government agencies, neighborhood groups, freight carriers, and developers all play a role. While the elements of safety planning have been recognized, studied, and understood for some time, the elements of security planning have received less attention."
The mandate for increased security in the transportation system states that metropolitan transportation plans should include "...emergency relief and disaster preparedness plans and strategies and policies that support homeland security (as appropriate) of all motorized and non-motorized users."
That's easier said than done, Lofgren notes. There is a lack of security data and performance measures. Preventing disasters is difficult because transportation is easily accessible and often vulnerable. New stakeholders must be involved in transportation security planning, and sometimes those stakeholders are new to transportation planning. In addition, the need to safeguard information that is involved in security planning can slow the process.
"The security needs and standards will be different for each MPO," Lofgren notes. "Consequently, each MPO will need to develop a holistic-approach to security planning based on the area's specific assets, resources, and environment. Our work will give smaller MPOs a framework that will assist them in the planning process."
Lofgren's work with integrating security into planning activities will provide insight for interagency coordination in transportation aspects of disaster and security events. Previous work has focused on larger cities such as New York, but Lofgren's pioneering work with smaller cities will provide an example of possibilities for areas with limited resources or personnel.
One of Lofgren's goals is to point the way toward several grant programs that exist to help MPOs obtain the funding needed to meet federal mandates for transportation security planning. These programs include the Infrastructure Protection Program, the Homeland Security Grant Program, and the Emergency Management Performance Grant. Additional grant information can be accessed via the websites of the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or the Transportation Security Administration.
Utah Project Seeks Optimal Traffic Monitoring Station Spacing on Freeways
Performance measures on freeways are developed from traffic monitoring stations which gather traffic volume and speed data. State departments of transportation deploy traffic monitoring stations to track traffic congestion on the road network. How those monitoring stations are spaced on the network is a critical factor in how effective they are.
The University of Utah is developing an analytical methodology to calculate travel time reliability measures to identify the optimal locations of detectors on a freeway corridor to minimize the travel time estimation error (actual travel time - free flow travel time). The researchers will evaluate the trade-off between detector spacing and accuracy of estimates such as speed, travel time and reliability.
The Utah DOT has typically installed traffic monitoring stations at one-half mile intervals. This spacing dates back to theories that the traffic monitoring stations would be used for incident detection. However, the stations have proven ineffective and perhaps unnecessary for this purpose. And as more monitoring stations are put into service, the operating and maintenance cost associated with the detector system increases.
However, data from the stations can be used for other valuable purposes such as travel time estimates. This use of the monitoring stations is likely to have different requirements for detector placement than the original focus on incident detection. To accomplish this new purpose, the detectors are to be placed so as to effectively sample the traffic conditions on freeways.
Consequently, there is a need to decide where to add new detectors and which detectors should continue receiving maintenance given resource constraints. For data collected from these detectors to remain meaningful and reliable, traffic data quality should not be adversely affected in these decisions.
