MINUTES OF MEETING (FINAL) PROJECT: PURPOSE OF MEETING: LOCATION: PENNDOT Agreement E00229 Open-end Agreement for ITS, Traffic and Highway Safety Engineering Services Work Order 015- District 1-0 Regional Operations Plan (ROP) NW PA Regional Operations Plan Task Force Meeting #2: Incident and Emergency Management PennDOT District 1-0 Office Oil City, PA DATE OF MEETING: March 6 th, 2007 10:30 AM 12:00 PM ATTENDEES: PennDOT Engineering District 1-0 (D-1) Randy Brink (814-678-7181 / rabrink@state.pa.us) Tom McClelland (814-678-7157 / thmcclella@state.pa.us) Cheryl Pastor (814-678-7047 / cpastor@state.pa.us) Mike Kapp (814-678-7046 / mkapp@state.pa.us) Sue Roach (814-678-7177 / sroach@state.pa.us) PennDOT Engineering District 10-0 (D10) Dave Tomaswick (724-357-2844 / dtomaswick@state.pa.us) PennDOT Engineering District 11-0 (D11) Jason Previte (412-429-6034 / jprevite@state.pa.us) PennDOT BHSTE Brenda Murphy (412-429-6038 / bremurphy@state.pa.us) Farooq Jan (717-214-2996 / FJan@state.pa.us) via conference call FHWA Jim Hunt (717-221-4422 / Jim.Hunt@fhwa.dot.gov) City of Erie LeAnn Parmenter (814-870-1379 / lparmenter@erie.pa.us) Pennsylvania State Police Brad Allen (814-898-1641 / brallen@state.pa.us) Douglas A. McGee (814-898-1641 / dmcgee@state.pa.us) Erie County Emergency Management Agency Brian Mesaros (814-451-7920 / BMesaros@ecdops.org) Dale Robinson (814-451-7920 / DRobinson@ecdops.org) Page 1 of 6
Crawford County Office of Emergency Services Allen Clark (814-724-8110 / AClark@co.crawford.pa.us) Edwards and Kelcey (EK) Keith Mullins (215-355-3577 / kmullins@ekmail.com) Megan Gould (215-355-3577 / mgould@ekmail.com) The purpose of the Regional Operations Plan (ROP) Task Force Meeting: Incident and Emergency Management is to discuss the high level needs identified for Incident and Emergency Management. Project concepts are to be developed to support the high level needs. Overview/Operations Concepts and Projects The meeting opened with introductions and Keith Mullins (EK) gave an overview of the ROPs purpose and how the Task Force Meetings are another step in defining projects for the NW PA Region. Farooq Jan (BHSTE) was participating via conference call and started the meeting with an overview on Incident and Emergency Management. He spoke about the Transportation Systems Operations Plan (TSOP) projects that related to Incident Management. TSOP 02- Roadway Closure Reporting System (RCRS) is the main focus and is only activated during PEMA activation. TSOP 04- Incident Management Traveler Information and TSOP 09- STMC and TMC s are also identified as relating to Incident and Emergency Management. As part of TSOP 09, Farooq elaborated on the TMC regional concepts. The TMC in District 11-0 will operate 24/7 after the necessary procedures are completed. The TMC in District 11-0 will operate the ITS/Operations in District 1-0 during the off hours when it is fully functioning as a 24/7 center. Currently there is no existing system to allow for the inter-operability of TMCs. Statewide there are gaps in ITS coverage and in rural areas the ITS coverage is limited. Discussion The discussion on Incident and Emergency Management was opened up to the Task Force group. Keith reviewed the NW PA Regional Operations Plan: Project Matrix for Incident and Emergency Management that was distributed to attendees. He explained that the high level needs were developed from the Workshop Meeting in January and that the project concepts were developed by EK based on the needs identification. As a group the focus was on developing project concepts that best fit the NW PA Region. The task force then engaged in a discussion on needs specific to Incident and Emergency Management. The following comments were noted during the discussion: Incident Management & Coordination Unified Command is not used properly because lack of practice o Lessons learned from incident command response are important to go through after incident o Do tabletop exercises as a practice for emergency response Page 2 of 6
o Emergency Units currently perform their own individual response plans based on what works and gets the help there when needed o Contact each other with cell numbers obtained from previous incidents FHWA offers Incident Command System (ICS) training and a corresponding document, this can be found at http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/ics_guide/ics_guide.pdf o PennDOT can request this training from FHWA TSOP 03- Interstate Incident Management Program covers: o Need for ITS deployment on interstates to help with incident management o A defined PennDOT approach to plan and fund ITS equipment. Media should be included in disseminating incident information District 1-0 currently uses a Safety Press Officer to get the information to the public or the media will deal directly with the county Media contacts the PSP and/or EMA as soon as an incident occurs District 11-0 has media represented in their TMC o Media staff geared towards rush hour and sit in operation center during those hours o Co-located center in Erie possible when new EMA facility is completed Capable of sending live emergency message over all radio channels o Incident needs to be significant for this to happen Pre-assigned detour routing by PennDOT o Detours in place for 2 years and booklets sent out to counties, but new responders are not aware of the booklets or detours if they never received them o Detour colored route signs are hard to get to when it snows o Public does not pay attention to the detour signs o Detour Routes posted on the web would be easier to access and to update Need to post detours on DMS and alert motorists on HAR Gap in ITS Signal coordination for traffic signals on detoured roads off of the interstate Variable Speed Limit Signs o No need for District 1-0 because it would create more incidents with speeds varying among drivers and some drivers slowing down at the last minute o Require 24/7 coverage in order to change the speed when needed and District 1-0 is not ready for this o PSP would need to enforce the speeds and they don t have the coverage Need for more DMS and HAR deployment o Verify locations according to District 1-0 Strategic Plan and the ITS Field Device Master Plan by Central Office Road Weather Management Storm information is gathered as the storm approaches In the event that a storm occurs, shift workers are needed so that volunteer workers that are out in the cold, risking their lives can be relieved Better alert system for closing down ramps onto the highway o Emergency Responders should have cones and signs to put out in the event of an incident or road closure Page 3 of 6
o Potential to use gates as closure devices for the ramps on the highway when and incident shuts down the roadway Road/Ramp Closure Concepts/Ideas o Red light sign to signal an emergency and not to enter the roadway o Small static sign that reads Do Not Enter Weather o Erie EMA can contact the media and meteorologists for weather information as the storm is approaching o PennDOT could be more proactive in their weather monitoring A recurring need that was expressed by PennDOT at this Task Force Meeting and the Task Force meeting for Traveler Information/Communications was the need for more personnel. The operations for the NW PA Region are not 24/7, but in order to function efficiently when an incident occurs in the region and to control ITS/Operations better more staff is desired in a new Operations Center. At the close of the discussion, Jim Hunt from FHWA passed out a memo on ITS for Traffic Incident Management and the Traffic Incident Management (TIM) Program Self Assessment. The TIM Program Self Assessment goes through a step by step grading system for how incidents are handled in the region. This helps to assess the efficiency of the Incident Command System and work to improve it where necessary. The FHWA can facilitate a TIM Self Assessment session with the Emergency Responders and PennDOT in NW PA to help the region improve their response efforts. Keith pointed out that the FHWA TIM Self Assessment could be used for the Incident Management Task Force to continue the efforts of the ROP once it is completed in July. Jim also made available the Towing Recording pamphlet for the agencies represented at the Task Force meeting. The pamphlet includes information on the vehicle involved in the crash that is being called in, including make, model, year etc. Questions / Comments If additional information is needed or documents wanted about the ROP, the ROP website is www.paits.org/rop. The website includes updated information on meetings, ROP background and the process. Next Steps / Action Items The 2 nd Taskforce Meeting has been set for April 3 rd at 10:30 am at the PennDOT District 1-0 Office. PennDOT will consider requesting FHWA s ICS Training Course EK will send out Task Force Meeting #2 invitation to the stakeholders; EK will develop project deployments based on the Needs and Project Concepts discussed at the Task Force meeting; EK will encourage the planning partners to attend the Task Force Meetings. We believe the foregoing minutes to be an accurate summary of the meeting and related decisions. Failing written notification to the contrary, after ten (10) days, we will consider these minutes a statement of facts. Page 4 of 6
Minutes prepared by: Keith R. Mullins, P.E. Edwards and Kelcey cc: All Meeting Attendees EK Project File 040015.038 EK Project Team Y:\2004 Projects\040015.038\WO-15\Documents\Project Management\Meetings\ROF Meeting 12-12-06\PENNDOT D 1-0 ROF Meeting Minutes DRAFT.doc Page 5 of 6
LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVATIONS ATMS AVL CCIP CCTV DMS FHWA HAR ICS ITS PEMA PennDOT PSP RCRS ROF ROP RTMC RWIS STMC TAC TSAMS TMC TSEI TSOP USDOT Advanced Traffic Management System Automatic Vehicle Locator Congested Corridor Improvement Program Closed-Circuit Television Dynamic Message Sign Federal Highway Administration Highway Advisory Radio Incident Command System Intelligent Transportation System Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Pennsylvania State Police Roadway Closure Reporting System Regional Operations Forum Regional Operations Plan Regional Traffic Management Center Roadway Weather Information System Statewide Traffic Management Center Transportation Advisory Committee Traffic Signal Asset Management System Traffic Management Center Traffic Signal Enhancement Initiative Transportation Systems Operations Plan United States Department of Transportation Page 6 of 6