ITS in Emergency Operations in Florida

1. ITS in Emergency Operations in Florida ITS During Disasters Jerry Woods Florida DOT – District 5

2. Outline • Background and Overview • Current FDOT Procedures / Policies • 2004 Hurricane Season • iFlorida Emergency Operational Enhancements • Natural disasters • Man-made disasters

3. FDOT District 5 RTMC • Located in Orlando • Co-located with Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) • Operates 24 Hours, 7 Days a Week • Operates all FDOT ITS in Central Florida • Permanent DMS, Detector Stations and Cameras • Hub for notifying FDOT Operations Facilities and Contractors for Incident Response • Record and Broadcast 511 Messages • Coordinates I-4 Road Ranger Program • Conducts Statewide Amber Alerts • Overall Regional Informational Hub

4. FDOT District 5 RTMC AND ITS

5. Outline • Background and Overview • Current FDOT Procedures / Policies • 2004 Hurricane Season • iFlorida Emergency Operational Enhancements • Natural disasters • Man-made disasters

6. FDOT District 5Emergency & Evacuation Agencies • Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) • FDOT District 5 • County Emergency Management and Operations Centers • Local Law Enforcement/Fire Rescue • State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee

7. FDOT District 5Evacuation Decision Making • Determine need for an evacuation • Local evacuations determined by County Emergency Management • Use the National Hurricane Center to make decisions • Contra-flow decision • FHP, FDOT and Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) make recommendations • Governor orders contra-flow

8. Outline • Background and Overview • Current FDOT Procedures / Policies • 2004 Hurricane Season • iFlorida Emergency Operational Enhancements • Natural disasters • Man-made disasters

9. 2004 Hurricane Season

10. Communication With The PublicPrior to Hurricane Landfall • FDOT Infrastructure • Use of 511 System • Use of DMS Signage to provide: • Shelter information (800 number to call) • Road closures • Congestion information • Media • Pubic Information Officers – providing accurate and timely information to TV and Radio Media

11. Communication With The Public511 Statistics • Charlie(August 13) – no impact on 511, Tampa Bay system not yet operational • Frances(September 4-6) – 5x spike in CFL, 2x spike in SEFL (web usage spike) • Ivan(September 16) – no impact on 511 (hit panhandle) • Jeanne(September 25-26) – 2x spike in CFL and SEFL, Peak day in Tampa • Overall - 400,000 total calls in Florida in September 2004

12. 2004 Hurricane SeasonWhat happened? • Many people listened to local broadcasts by County Emergency Management to evacuate well ahead of the storms • Roads were congested, but moving • No contra flow implemented; Majority of traffic moved north out of Florida • FDOT used TTMS data to validate traffic flow on interstate roads not covered by RTMC • FDOT D5 shared video with D2 (Jacksonville) for traffic management/planning • Roads were empty one day before hurricane landfall • People coming back into state heard rumors that borders were closed

13. Post Hurricane IssuesCellular Communications • Cell systems worked on/off after hurricanes - towers not destroyed, but power was lost • Cell companies buying emergency generators to operate towers during future outages • Even so, too many people trying to use the system can saturate it

14. Post Hurricane IssuesITS Field Devices • RTMC remained operational with generator power, however power was lost to ITS field devices • FDOT scrambled to find generators for master hubs to power ITS devices • By third storm all Master Hub sites equipped with generators • Generators also procured to power traffic signals • Problems with theft of generators

15. 2004 Hurricane SeasonLessons Learned • Continued need for early and accurate communication to the public • Power outages were the biggest problem; could not find a generator as far north as Alabama or Georgia • If traffic is moving, there is no need to contra flow • Prepare for fuel needs • Provide evacuation and re-entry information to neighboring states – post to DMS and 511 systems

16. Outline • Background and Overview • Current FDOT Procedures / Policies • 2004 Hurricane Season • iFlorida Emergency Operational Enhancements • Natural disasters • Man-made disasters

17. iFlorida Model Deployment • Purpose • To demonstrate the wide variety of operational functions that are enabled or enhanced with a surface transportation security and reliability information system • Four year, $20M+ program – 11 projects • Official start date – May 1, 2003 • Two years to design/deployment • Two years operational evaluation • Statewide project, with a focus on Central Florida • Leverages $80M+ in ongoing 2002-2004 investments

18. iFlorida Emergency Ops Enhancements • Field Components • CCTVs • Travel time based data collection system • Speed/volume detectors • Central Florida RWIS • Road Weather Forecasting System - Meteorlogix • Statewide Corridor Monitoring System upgrade on major evacuation routes • CCTVs • Speed/volume detectors

19. iFlorida Emergency Ops Enhancements • Conditions Reporting System • Supports both Statewide and Regional ATIS Systems • Provides Information to 511, Statewide and Regional Web Sites • Supports RTMC Operations • Includes decision support applications to alert and advise RTMC operators with recommended: • Changes to the Variable Speed Limit • Dynamic Message Signs • 511 Messages • Fiber Connection includes video capability - FHP Cocoa, Brevard EOC and Orlando RTMC • All agencies will be able to view CCTV feeds

20. iFlorida Emergency Ops Enhancements Conditions Reporting System • The CRS includes automated data from: • FHP’s Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system • FDOT’s construction information system • FDOT District 5’s Surveillance Systems • Orlando Orange County Expressway Authority’s (OOCEA) Travel Time Data Server • Available transit and airport information • Meteorlogix’s segment weather conditions, alerts, and forecasts • The CRS fuses all available data into pre-defined roadway links • Weather-related alerts will be available to the RTMC operator via the Operator Interface

21. iFlorida Emergency Ops Enhancements 511 Service • Expands Central Florida 511 service • More roads – all limited access and 8 key arterials (15 roads, 28 reporting segments) • Software uses travel time data to automatically select pre-recorded messages • Operator recorded incident / exception messages • Roadway summary • Drive time summary option – like a radio report • My 511 custom trip reports • Other modes • LYNX (Orlando Bus Transit System) • Orlando International Airport • Orlando-Sanford International Airport • Port Canaveral

22. iFlorida Emergency Ops Enhancements 511 Service • Introduction of statewide service • Covers all roads in the Florida Intrastate Highway System • Controlled access routes • Turnpikes and expressway limited access routes • Interstate limited access routes • 59 roads, 74 roadway reporting segments • Focus on exception reporting • Construction • Major incidents • Weather alerts • Allows call transfers to Southeast Florida and Tampa Bay services

23. iFlorida Emergency Ops Enhancements SR 528 Corridor Monitoring System • Brevard to Orlando evacuation • Establish situational awareness on SR 528 and SR 520 – parallel evacuation routes • Provides SR 528 contra flow support and monitoring • Assist in determining contra flow need • Provide traveler information tailored to evacuees leaving from and returning to Brevard County

24. iFlorida Emergency Ops Enhancements Statewide Corridor Monitoring System • Deploys 30 sensor stations along FIHS roadways (I-10, I-75, I-95 and Florida’s Turnpike) • Sensor sites collect data/video in real-time • Uses FDOT’s existing microwave tower network to bring data to the CRS at the RTMC • 54 Telemetered Traffic Monitoring Sites (TTMS) sites around the state supplement this data for emergency operations purposes • Not all sites can provide data in real time • Some only hourly or daily

25. iFlorida Emergency Ops Enhancements Weather Related Projects • Provide real time, critical weather and roadway travel conditions • Focused on Central Florida • 10 RWIS sites on I-95, I-4, SR 528 and the Florida’s Turnpike • 4 wind monitors on Coastal bridges • Integration of iFlorida and National Weather Service (NWS) data • Expanded RWIS sensor coverage in order to achieve a larger coverage area and a finer, more precise level of weather information • Data from RWIS and NWS will be used to support development of weather prediction model for current conditions and forecasts for each road segment defined in the Conditions Reporting System

26. iFlorida Emergency Ops Enhancements Man-Made Disasters • Daytona International Speedway Evacuation Planning • Goal • Develop emergency evacuation plan with Daytona International Speedway • Review the plan with other regional these event venues to identify recommended practices for emergency evacuations for types of venues • Lessons Learned to date: • No fire hydrants on Daytona Beach Raceway property • Raceway fire staff assume that Daytona Beach F.D. had tanker truck to support emergencies

27. iFlorida Emergency Ops Enhancements Man-Made Disasters • Planning effort has helped improve coordination and resulted in development of plan to cover emergencies/evacuations • Need to provide route information to attendees – e.g., provide route information on back of ticket • Use of speedway equivalent of DMS used for advertising can be converted to provide evacuation/other information • Plans for installation of cameras at other key intersections around the raceway based on lessons learned • Plans developed to use floodgate 511 if evacuation becomes necessary

28. Contact Information Jerry Woods, FDOT District 5 E-mail: Jerry.Woods@dot.state.fl.us Phone: 386-943-5311