AP-R547-17 Techniques For Incident Management To Support NOP

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Techniques for Incident Management to Support Network Operations

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Research Report
AP-R547-17
Techniques for Incident Management to

Support Network Operations Planning
Techniques for Incident Management to Support Network Operations Planning
Prepared by Publisher
Dr Aut Karndacharuk and Asif Hassan Austroads Ltd.

Level 9, 287 Elizabeth Street
Sydney NSW 2000 Australia
Project Manager Phone: +61 2 8265 3300
austroads@austroads.com.au
Wayne Wilson
www.austroads.com.au
Abstract About Austroads

This report investigates current local and international incident Austroads is the peak organisation of Australasian road
management techniques and proposes an Australasian incident transport and traffic agencies.
management framework that supports network operations planning.
Austroads’ purpose is to support our member organisations to
A literature review highlights the fact that traffic incident management deliver an improved Australasian road transport network. To
(TIM) is not only a process of managing multi-agency, multi- succeed in this task, we undertake leading-edge road and
jurisdictional response to road traffic incidents, but also a broader transport research which underpins our input to policy
management program that involves an objective setup, stakeholder development and published guidance on the design,
collaboration, option development and selection, implementation and construction and management of the road network and its
performance evaluation. associated infrastructure.
Baseline and emerging TIM techniques and practices for the Austroads provides a collective approach that delivers value
collection of road and traffic data and the response to incident for money, encourages shared knowledge and drives
management needs were also reviewed and new and emerging consistency for road users.
techniques for traffic incident management identified.
Austroads is governed by a Board consisting of senior
To assist in the establishment of a harmonised TIM methodology executive representatives from each of its eleven member
across Australasia, an incident management framework was organisations:
developed based on the leading practices and techniques. The • Roads and Maritime Services New South Wales
adoption of this integrated framework, which is underpinned by seven
management principles, would improve the operation and safety of • Roads Corporation Victoria
the road network by reducing the impact of planned and unplanned • Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads
incidents. • Main Roads Western Australia
While the potential implications and benefits of the new technologies • Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure
within the TIM framework have been briefly discussed in this report, South Australia
quantifying the safety and efficiency impacts of different TIM • Department of State Growth Tasmania
techniques requires further investigation. • Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics
Northern Territory
• Transport Canberra and City Services Directorate,
Australian Capital Territory
• Australian Government Department of Infrastructure and
Keywords Regional Development
traffic incident management, incident management, traffic • Australian Local Government Association
management, incident management technique, traffic operation • New Zealand Transport Agency.
ISBN 978-1-925451-94-8
Austroads Project No. NS1994 © Austroads 2017
Austroads Publication No. AP-R547-17 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under
the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any
Publication date July 2017 process without the prior written permission of Austroads.
Pages 46
This report has been prepared for Austroads as part of its work to promote improved Australian and New Zealand transport outcomes by
providing expert technical input on road and road transport issues.
Individual road agencies will determine their response to this report following consideration of their legislative or administrative
arrangements, available funding, as well as local circumstances and priorities.
Austroads believes this publication to be correct at the time of printing and does not accept responsibility for any consequences arising from
the use of information herein. Readers should rely on their own skill and judgement to apply information to particular issues.
Summary
This report documents the findings of a project which investigated current local and international incident
management techniques and developed a harmonised incident management framework that supports
network operations planning.
The literature review highlighted the fact that traffic incident management (TIM) is not only a process of
managing multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional response to road traffic incidents, but also a broader
management program that involves an objective setup, stakeholder collaboration, option development and
selection, implementation and performance evaluation.
Baseline and emerging TIM techniques and practices for the collection of road and traffic data and the
response to incident management needs was also reviewed. New and emerging techniques for traffic
incident management identified were:
• smartphones and global navigation satellite systems
• cooperative-ITS and dedicated short range communications
• social media, participatory sensing and crowdsourcing
• drones for traffic data and incident management.
Current incident management practice in Australia and New Zealand was reviewed based primarily on
documentation supplied by the jurisdictions. A comparison matrix which presents TIM techniques used in
each jurisdiction at various incident management stages – from multi-agency collaboration through to
capability development – was developed. As a result, contemporary leading practices were identified.
To assist in the establishment of a harmonised TIM methodology across Australasia, an incident

management framework was developed based on the leading practices and techniques. Adoption of this
integrated framework, which is underpinned by seven management principles, would improve the operation
and safety of the road network by reducing the impact of planned and unplanned incidents.
Austroads 2017 | page i

Contents
Summary ......................................................................................................................................................... i
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1
2. Literature Review ................................................................................................................................... 2
2.1 Baseline Traffic Incident Management Techniques ......................................................................... 2
2.1.1 In-road Sensors ................................................................................................................... 2
2.1.2 Over-road Sensors .............................................................................................................. 2
2.1.3 Video Camera System ........................................................................................................ 3
2.1.4 In-vehicle Sensors ............................................................................................................... 3
2.2 Emerging Traffic Incident Management Techniques ....................................................................... 3
2.2.1 Smartphones and Global Navigation Satellite Systems ...................................................... 4
2.2.2 Cooperative-ITS and Dedicated Short Range Communications ......................................... 5
2.2.3 Social Media, Participatory Sensing and Crowdsourcing.................................................... 6
2.2.4 Drones for Traffic Data and Incident Management ............................................................. 6
2.3 Discussion and Summary Matrix ...................................................................................................... 6
3. Current Practices in Australia and New Zealand ................................................................................ 9
3.1 New South Wales ............................................................................................................................. 9
3.2 New Zealand .................................................................................................................................. 10
3.3 Queensland .................................................................................................................................... 11
3.4 South Australia ............................................................................................................................... 11
3.5 Victoria............................................................................................................................................ 11
3.6 Western Australia ........................................................................................................................... 12
3.7 Other Jurisdictions .......................................................................................................................... 12
4. Contemporary Leading Practices in Australasia .............................................................................. 13
4.1 Multi-agency Collaboration within Each Jurisdiction ...................................................................... 13
4.2 Planning for Traffic Incident Management ..................................................................................... 13
4.3 Traffic Incident Management .......................................................................................................... 14
4.3.1 Incident Detection and Verification .................................................................................... 14
4.3.2 Response to Traffic Incidents ............................................................................................ 14
4.3.3 Traffic Management........................................................................................................... 15
4.3.4 Traveller Information.......................................................................................................... 16
4.4 Performance Evaluation ................................................................................................................. 16
4.5 Capability Development ................................................................................................................. 17
4.6 Relevance to Network Operations Planning .................................................................................. 18
4.7 Relevance to ‘Safe System’ Approach ........................................................................................... 20
5. Development of Traffic Incident Management Framework .............................................................. 22
5.1 Purpose and Objectives of the Framework .................................................................................... 22
5.2 Traffic Incident Management Principles ......................................................................................... 22
5.3 Proposed Traffic Incident Management Framework ...................................................................... 23
6. Conclusions and Future Research..................................................................................................... 25
References ................................................................................................................................................... 26
Austroads 2017 | page ii

Austroads Project NS1017 ............................................................................................. 30

List of Policy and Practice Documentation from Each Jurisdiction .......................... 42
Summary of Arrangements for Each Jurisdiction ....................................................... 45
Tables
Table 2.1: Role and relevance of traffic management techniques in the traffic incident
management process ................................................................................................................ 8
Table 4.2: Performance measurement framework .................................................................................... 17
Table 4.3: Relevance of network operation planning to traffic incident management practices
and techniques ........................................................................................................................ 19
Table 4.4: Relevance of the safe system approach to traffic incident management practices
and techniques ........................................................................................................................ 21
Table A 1: Advanced traffic incident management practices .................................................................... 31
Table A 2: Cost impact factors for traffic incidents .................................................................................... 33
Table A 3: Stakeholders and their objectives for traffic incident management ......................................... 37
Table A 4: Incident detection and verification techniques ......................................................................... 39
Table A 5: Incident response techniques .................................................................................................. 40
Table A 6: Techniques for traffic management and traveller information .................................................. 40
Figures
Figure 3.1: Incident perimeters and responsibilities between participating agencies in NSW ................... 9
Table 4.1: Incident types and classification............................................................................................. 15
Figure 4.1: Network operation planning process ...................................................................................... 18
Figure 4.2: Safe system approach and principles .................................................................................... 20
Figure 5.1: Incident management framework ........................................................................................... 24
Figure A 1: Six tasks in Austroads Project NS1017 ................................................................................. 30
Figure A 2: Seven traffic incident management activities ......................................................................... 31
Figure A 3: Incident clearance with and without an incident management system .................................. 34
Figure A 4: Event timeline during an incident ........................................................................................... 35
Figure A 5: Additional traffic incident management step of planning, evaluation and performance
monitoring .............................................................................................................................. 36
Figure A 6: Traffic incident management timeline .................................................................................... 38
Austroads 2017 | page iii

1. Introduction
The responsibility of traffic incident management (TIM) implementation in Australia and New Zealand
primarily lies with road and traffic agencies and private toll operators who are vested with managing the
public road networks. Given its complexity in managing multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional responses to road
traffic disruptions, and the emergence of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and other transport technologies
(e.g. connected/automated vehicle technology), traffic incident management is an evolving area of road
transport management.
Austroads has identified the lack of a nationally agreed incident management framework across the
Austroads member organisations as a gap in the TIM knowledge. The development of such a framework,
based on contemporary leading practices and techniques, would assist in the development of an integrated
approach to road network and safety management. This in turn would lead to a reduction in the impact of
planned and unplanned incidents, and support the optimisation of network operations. Additionally, the use
of a harmonised approach would allow recent developments in network operations planning and safe system
to be taken into account.
Austroads commissioned the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB) to investigate TIM techniques which
would support network operations planning. In developing a mutually-agreed management framework,
contemporary local and international incident management practices were reviewed.
The key objectives of the project were to:

• review the literature on the topic of traffic incident management
• review existing agency policy and practice documents and identify TIM practices and techniques being
used in Australia and New Zealand
• develop an agreed incident management framework, taking into account the findings of the review,
leading practices and the network operations planning and safe system principles.
While the framework included overarching incident management guidance at various implementation stages,
ranging from inter-agency collaboration and traffic incident management through to performance evaluation
and training, the focus of the identification of contemporary leading practices and techniques was primarily
on the traffic management aspects, i.e. incident detection, verification and response as well as traveller
information and traffic management during the incidents.
The organisation of this report is as follows:

• Section 2: literature review and its findings.
• Section 3: a review of current incident management practices in Australia and New Zealand.
• Section 4: a discussion of the contemporary leading incident management practices in Australasia.
• Section 5: the presentation of the traffic incident management framework and principles.
• Section 6: conclusions and recommendation for future research.
Appendix A provides an overview of Austroads Project NS1017, which formed part of the literature review. A
list of documents relating to TIM policy and practices from the jurisdictions is presented in Appendix B whilst
a matric summarising the arrangements for each jurisdictions is presented in Appendix C.
Austroads 2017 | page 1

2. Literature Review
As mentioned earlier, the focus of the review of TIM practices was the management of transport services and
road network users during an incident (rather than processes or stakeholder management for incident
response) and specifically from incident detection to traveller information (excluding site management,
investigation and clearance).
Section 2.1 provides an overview of baseline traffic data collection and monitoring techniques. This is
followed by a discussion of new and emerging intelligent transport systems (ITS) and information and
communications technology (ICT) technologies with respect to traffic incident management and response in
Section 2.2.1 to Section 2.2.4. The relevance of the techniques to each TIM activity – from detection,
verification and response through to traffic management and traveller information – is outlined in Section 2.3.
2.1 Baseline Traffic Incident Management Techniques

Baseline TIM techniques for incident detection and response can be established based generally on the
incident management practices discussed in Austroads Project NS1017. A comprehensive review of this
project is presented in Appendix A.
The majority of incident detection and response practices utilise road and traffic sensing technology. In the
area of traffic data collection technologies, infrastructure-based detection systems with stationary
measurement devices distributed across the network have dominated. Such static sensing systems can be
classified into in-road or over-road (Klein, Mills & Gibson 2006). Examples of these devices follow.
2.1.1 In-road Sensors
In-road sensors include:

• inductive loops – the most widely deployed vehicle detection technology in Australasia (Austroads 2010)
• magnetometers
• piezoelectric sensors.
Even though the installation and maintenance of the in-pavement sensing devices such as inductive loops
creates an area of potential pavement failure, itself a source of traffic disruption and delays, they are widely
deployed in Australia and New Zealand. A traditional loop-based automatic incident detection (AID) system
using traffic flow and speed data is less effective during off-peak periods when shockwaves from an incident
take a longer time to reach the detectors.
2.1.2 Over-road Sensors
Over-road sensors include:

• acoustic
• infrared (active and passive)
• laser-pulsed (LIDAR, Light Detection and Ranging)
• pneumatic tubes
• radar (Doppler and continuous wave)
• ultrasonic.

Thakuriah and Geers (2013) argue that the adherence to point sensors is mainly due to the longevity of
existing traffic control systems and infrastructure, in particular SCATS (Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic
System) and SCOOT (Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique). This, to a certain degree, hampers both
the development and deployment of enhanced sensors and newer traffic control algorithms that provide a
more detailed approximation of the traffic conditions.
2.1.3 Video Camera System
Closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras are an integral part of smart transport Infrastructure and ITS
solutions for active traffic management of major highways and toll roads around the world. An intelligent AID
system using a network of roadside traffic cameras can detect, within a coverage area, incidents through
digital processing of video images, and automatically alert operators for incident verification and response.
When equipped with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), a pair of cameras is able to measure
travel time.
In order to provide road users with more informed travel choices, road and transport agencies increasingly
make traffic camera feeds available. For example, near real-time traffic images from web cameras are
provided by the NZ Transport Agency (2017), Queensland Department Transport and Main Roads (2017b)
and Transport for NSW (2010).
2.1.4 In-vehicle Sensors
Equipped with an emergency response system that combines mobile phone and global positioning system
(GPS) technology, a ‘Mayday’ service is able to manually or automatically transmit a distress signal with the
vehicle’s GPS-derived location to emergency services, usually via a private call centre (Paine et al. 2008).
There is, nonetheless, a concern over whether the in-vehicle system would function reliably in remote areas
and if contact between the occupants of a vehicle involved in a crash and emergency services can be
maintained until help arrives (Mitsopoulos, Regan & Haworth 2002).
A similar system employed in the European Union (EU) is termed ‘eCall’, which is an emergency reporting
system that utilises the cellular network. This system may be activated automatically via in-vehicle sensors or
manually by the occupants. In case of accident, the system automatically calls 112 (the EU and international
emergency number) and establishes a voice link. It also pushes a minimum set of data (e.g. vehicle position
and airbag state) to the emergency call centre. The EU has mandated that, from April 2018, all new cars sold
in Europe must be equipped with eCall which therefore effectively requires that every new car sold be fitted
with a SIM card (European Commission 2015).
2.2 Emerging Traffic Incident Management Techniques

New and emerging techniques for managing incident traffic inevitably falls within the scope of advanced
traffic management tools and techniques that are employed in road network operations. With the focus on
real-time information, these techniques increasingly utilise ITS and ICT, which are used to fulfil the transport
operations services of network monitoring, maintaining road serviceability and safety and providing travel aid
and user information. The interrelationship between ITS, ITS applications and traffic operations is further
discussed in Austroads (2016c) and the Road Network Operations Handbook (World Road Association
2003).
It is important to distinguish AID algorithms from other information gathering techniques. AID algorithms
make use of traffic data from various data sources to detect non-recurring congestion caused by an incident.
An AID system looks for deviations of measured traffic parameters from ‘normal’ values using methods which
have various levels of sophistication. Point-based AID algorithms use traffic data collected from
measurements at specific point locations whereas spatial measurement-based algorithms use video
surveillance and video image processing (Thakuriah & Geers 2013). With early examples in the 1980s
(Ahmed & Cook 1982; Persaud & Hall 1989; Willsky et al. 1980), AID is, and has been, actively researched
(Margreiter 2016; Motamed & Machemehl 2014). More recently, crowdsourcing methods of incident
detection have been reported (Adler et al. 2014; Gu, Qian & Chen 2016).

2.2.1 Smartphones and Global Navigation Satellite Systems
The continuing improvement of location-aware mobile devices (such as smart phones and purpose-built
navigation system receivers) with affordable high-bandwidth communications is considered a significant
milestone in traffic data collection technology for traffic system planning and management, including traffic
incident management, now and in the foreseeable future (Geers & Karndacharuk 2016).
The majority of smartphones have access to Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), of which GPS is a
part, and are equipped with accelerometers, gyroscopic sensors and a compass. Also, mobile phone
positions (to cell level) are routinely collected by service providers via call data records. They are, therefore,
incredibly versatile sensing platforms because the sensors can be used to provide not only the position of the
phone and the mode by which it is travelling, but also OD travel patterns (Bekhor & Shem-Tov 2015) and
road network and traffic conditions (Demissie, Correia & Bento 2013; Janecek et al. 2015). The
smartphones, consequently, enable service providers, device manufacturers and mobile app owners to send
traffic incident information to the users that is specific to their locations.
Mobile broadband services provided by the telecommunications companies such as 3G, 4G and LTE are
already available in most of the smartphones and can be built into vehicles as well. That means a majority of
drivers (and vehicle passengers) are carrying a location-aware sensor in their pocket. Deloitte Australia
(2016) reported that 84% of Australians own a smartphone. Actively providing location information, these
devices can be used remotely by the service provider, device or software manufacturer utilising Bluetooth,
Wi-Fi and cell tower data technologies.
Smartphone applications (apps) are a good example of how location-aware technology can be utilised. Using
a sub-carrier of commercial FM radio signals, SUNA Traffic from Intelematics, provides traffic information to
in-car navigation systems. Before transmission to users, Intelematics implements some in-house data
processing as they collect data and information from a variety of sources. Other apps which are peripherally
in this space are Uber, which was initially designed to connect customers with professional limousine drivers
but has recently developed an UberX service that controversially connects the travelling public to arbitrary
(supposedly vetted) drivers who are using the service. The Australian company goCatch provides a similar
app which connects customers with taxi drivers who are using their app. As a part of their end user license
agreement they collect significant data on travel movements of taxis. This app potentially provides useful
traffic incident data based on taxi movements in critical areas.
Most of the phone carriers are unwilling to provide data and information to third parties because of perceived
privacy issues and obtaining data may be difficult (especially in Australia). However, there are examples
where data collected by the mobile carriers are used for transport planning and management after
implementation of some data processing techniques. As part of an ‘opt-in’ license agreement, alternatively,
many transport apps will source data directly from their users. For instance, the Singapore-MIT Alliance for
Research and Technology developed a purpose-built travel survey app FM Survey (Cottrill et al. 2013).
Thus, every person in a vehicle has the potential to be a probe. More importantly, the data is collected
across all modes as it is the people who carry the mobile phones regardless of their transport mode.
Other examples of mobile phone data applications in the traffic information systems include:
• De-identified information of mobile phone positions can be extracted with reasonable accuracy
(approximately 250 m) by companies such as Airsage (www.airsage.com) in the USA for a range of
transport planning and operational uses.
• Suitably anonymised information of demographics and location data can be obtained from mobile phone
customers by mobile phone carriers such as Verizon's Precision Market Insights
(http://precisionmarketinsights.com).
• Call detail records containing cell location where time and duration of calls can yield valuable information
as evidenced in a paper by AT&T staff (Becker et al. 2011). Figures 1 and 2 of that paper show an
example of agreement between CDR and census data for the town of Morristown, USA.
• Another success story of using mobile phone data in transport planning is from Senegal, where the
French mobile phone carrier, Orange, provided a range of data as part of a competition to determine just
what could be achieved if such data was made available (Orange 2017).

Analysis of mobile phone data for transportation purposes is very much an active area of research (e.g.
Pozdnoukhov & Walsh 2010; Kaiser & Pozdnoukhov 2013; Yadlowsky et al. 2015; Wu et al. 2015). It can be
concluded that, in terms of the use of mobile phone data for the purposes of transport planning and traffic
operations, Australia is behind the rest of the developed world. Therefore, it is important for transportation
agencies to work with the mobile carriers so that there can be better utilisation of mobile phone data to
improve traffic operation and incident management.
2.2.2 Cooperative-ITS and Dedicated Short Range Communications
Cooperative-ITS (C-ITS) involves specialised vehicle-to-vehicle/infrastructure communications (V2X, vehicle

to anything). It can be any of: Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), 802.11p, 5.9ITS (which
references the frequency of operation – 5.9 GHz), WAVE (Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments) in the
US, or CALM G5 (Communications Access for Land Mobiles Geo-networked 5 GHz) in Europe.
There are two essential physical components: on-board units (OBU) and road-side units (RSU). Ultimately,
transport agencies would be responsible for RSU deployment because of their use in traffic network control,
both as a means of collecting traffic data (up to 1 km from the RSU) and for sending information to vehicles.
DSRC can be used to improve vehicle safety, mainly to mitigate collisions. DSRC is technically a modified
version of consumer Wi-Fi. It is designed specifically to operate efficiently in a high-(physical) speed mobile
environment (200 km/h) and support low-latency applications. The communications range is notionally 1000
m but is probably 300 m or so in practice. To assist vulnerable road-users, it is highly likely that mobile phone
original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) will provide them easy access to the DSRC ecosystem. It should
be noted that the operation in the 5.9 GHz ITS spectrum is currently restricted in Australia by the Australian
Communications and Media Authority.
DSRC systems broadcast a simple message (beacon message) – also known as the basic safety message
(BSM) in the USA and the cooperative access message (CAM) in the EU – as part of its essential operating
protocol. This simple message provides information about vehicle position and velocity (speed and heading)
at a rate of 10 times per second. The BSM and CAM are different and the ultimate form of the beacon
message in Australia will be set when a final decision is made on which standard is adopted. Conversely,
from the data collection or data management viewpoint, it will make little difference.
Assuming that RSUs will not be installed at 500 m intervals along all roads, at least in the short term, many
of the beacon messages will not be received by roadside infrastructure and will be lost because of the limited
communications range of DSRC. The data loss can be alleviated by transmitting the data over mobile
broadband or storing it on board the vehicle for transmission in a burst when roadside receivers (either
DSRC or Wi-Fi) are within range. Policy of some jurisdictions may prohibit collection and storage of beacon
messages for privacy and security reasons. It is widely expected that vehicles from model year 2018 in the
US will be equipped with DSRC radios. Vehicles shipped to Australia are unlikely to have these systems
enabled unless local spectrum licensing details are worked out.
DSRC forms the primary communications component of C-ITS. DSRC will potentially have large traffic
efficiency implications at signalised intersections, including ramp meters. To make better control decisions,
both locally and in a coordinated fashion, it is important to obtain a much clearer picture of the traffic state,
particularly by locating DSRC systems at intersections. In due course, they will transmit control information
directly to approaching vehicles. This is an active area of research around the world (e.g. Cai, Wang & Geers
2010; Katsaros et al. 2011; Cai, Wang & Geers 2012; Seredynski, Arnold & Khadraoui 2013) but they are yet
to be deployed.

A unique Australian example of the utilisation of traffic data obtained from Bluetooth devices (e.g. in-vehicle
systems as well as smartphones) for traffic management and traveller information is South Australia’s
Addinsight Bluetooth system (Cox n.d.). Bluetooth sensors are cost-effective devices that can be used on
signalised and freeway corridors to detect abnormal travel times and throughput (Cox 2013). They can also
be used as point sensors to detect slow-moving traffic because probe vehicles stay in range of the receivers
for longer. Given the probes can be tracked wherever coverage is available, the Bluetooth traffic data can be
used in real time to monitor traffic patterns and route choice in response to the incident. Post-assessment of
the incidents is also possible to obtain a better understanding of driver behaviour in response to incidents
and to quantify the impact of the incidents.
2.2.3 Social Media, Participatory Sensing and Crowdsourcing
To detect traffic incidents, real-time social media such as Twitter can play a vital role. Many minor incidents
such as non-injury crashes and vehicle breakdowns are reported earlier via social media than traditional
methods. Moreover, social media analysis can help to inform congestion and safety hazards.
As noted earlier, major technology-oriented companies such as Google and Apple have been taking
participatory sensing to a new level. Participatory sensing is an approach to data collection and interpretation
in which individuals provide information to service providers either voluntarily or involuntarily. Apps such as
Waze (bought by Google), which encourage users to provide information in order to support a community
(drivers in this case) are novel, and perhaps fit into the ‘sharing economy’ ideal more so than traditional
navigation aids. Even though relatively simple information is collected and shared by Waze, it is perhaps a
key innovation with extremely clear and easy-to-read user interface with very large buttons. Thus it offers
minimal visual distraction to the drivers. This type of sensing data could eventually replace all others
because of the ability to provide additional insight into their journeys by the users of apps such as this.
Twitter feeds can be mined to obtain relevant road and traffic data. Work by Kosala, Adi & Steven (2012) and
Elsafoury (2013) have applied this technique to reporting on road congestion and traffic incidents. Many
transport agencies throughout the world maintain a strong presence on social media to receive feedback on
operations from the general public.
2.2.4 Drones for Traffic Data and Incident Management
Drones can be used as a potential tool to collect data and information on traffic movements. Laser scanning
drones can expedite clearance by collecting data quickly, with good survey accuracy and in 3D to permit
incident reconstruction and investigation by police and road agencies. Trials are taking place in the Czech
Republic to collect real-time traffic data using drones (Evolving Systems Consulting n.d.). The Civil Aviation
Safety Authority (CASA) and Airservices Australia have restricted their use in Australia. Drones for traffic
data collection can be fitted with navigation systems with pre-set flight time, high-resolution cameras and
high-capacity data collection links.
2.3 Discussion and Summary Matrix

The variety of management techniques and practices for collecting and processing road and traffic data and
responding to incident management needs are presented in Table 2.1 for each step in the TIM process. The
‘enable’ or ‘support’ assigned to each technique is determined based on the role it plays in the context of
traffic management during an incident, from detection to traveller information dissemination.
It can be observed that all of the new and emerging techniques have an ability to carry out or support the
implementation of all traffic management steps (compared with only the manual operation of service patrols
and incident response units in the baseline practice).

In addition, the interconnectivity of technologies renders it more difficult to differentiate one technique from
another. An example is that traffic data on a smartphone with incident information in a connected vehicle is
transmitted to roadside infrastructure via C-ITS vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication technology,
which is subsequently detected and responded to using an integrated AID and emergency response system
with an incident warning broadcast to other travellers through social media.
The increasingly more people-centric techniques using mobile connected devices with location-aware
technologies reflect the shift to provide real-time data on current conditions for immediate service delivery
and informed decision making. A TIM solution for a successful incident management process is therefore
potentially an array of interoperable and interconnected technologies that best utilise available data sources.

Table 2.1: Role and relevance of traffic management techniques in the traffic incident management process
Practice Traffic Incident Management Step Note
Traffic Traveller
Detection Verification Response
Management Information
New and emerging technique
Smartphones and GNSS Enable (Link) Enable Enable Support Enable Features of a smartphone enable incident
management and traveller information
C-ITS and DSRC Enable (Lane) Support Support Enable Enable C-ITS using DSRC enables traffic
management by providing traffic control
information to approaching vehicles
Social media and crowdsourcing Enable (Link) Support Support Support Enable Examples are Waze and Twitter
Drones for traffic data and incident Enable (Lane) Enable Support Support Support Restricted use is allowed in Australia
management
Baseline technique
Emergency phone call and hotline by general Enable Support – – – –
public
In-road sensors (e.g. inductive loop) Enable Support – – – Sensors provide traffic data to AID for
incident detection
Over-road sensors (e.g. radar and infrared) Enable Support – – –
Automatic Incident Detection (algorithm) Enable Support Support – – AID analyses traffic data from other sources
Traffic incident watch (by professional Enable Enable Support – – Participants collaborate with transport agency
drivers) and the Police for incident verification
In-vehicle emergency (e.g. Mayday and e- Enable Enable Enable – – Voice link enables proper incident response
Call)
CCTV Enable Enable Enable Support – –
Static traffic and road space management – – Enable Enable Support –
devices
Adaptive traffic control and communication – – Enable Enable Enable –
devices (e.g. VMS and VSLS)
Service patrol and incident response unit Enable Enable Enable Enable Support –

3. Current Practices in Australia and New

Zealand
This section documents a review of current incident management practice in Australia and New Zealand. It
should be noted that no specific documents are available with regards to traffic incident management policy,
procedures or agreements for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Northern Territory (NT) or Tasmania
(Tas). As mentioned in Section 1 the review scope does not include incident management techniques at the
site investigation and clearance stages in detail.
A list of policy and practice documents from each jurisdiction is provided in Appendix B whilst a matric
summarising the arrangements for each jurisdictions is presented in Appendix C.
3.1 New South Wales

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the management of road and traffic incidents was signed in
2010 between the Ambulance Service of NSW; the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water;
Emergency Management NSW; NSW Fire Brigades (now Fire and Rescue NSW); the NSW Police Force;
the NSW Rural Fire Service; the NSW State Emergency Service; Roads and Maritime Services NSW
(formerly known as Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW) and Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW). This
MoU highlights the roles of all participating agencies, incident management protocols, incident control
systems and traffic management of incidents. The MoU also identifies the priority roads at the time of any
traffic related incident. The incident perimeters and responsibilities between participating agencies are
illustrated in Figure 3.1.
Figure 3.1: Incident perimeters and responsibilities between participating agencies in NSW
Source: Transport for New South Wales (2016).

The Transport Management Centre (TMC) at TfNSW has different incident management plans for both
planned and unplanned incidents. Depending on the location of the incident (e.g. freeways and country
regional areas) and weather (e.g. ice and snow), the NSW government has published different plans. As a
part of the incident management planning, the TMC has documented various procedures for clearway towing
(including during special events), radio communications with traffic emergency patrol crews, the displaying of
manual messages on variable message signs (VMS), the removal of vehicles from roads and road-related
areas, the operational management of road works, contra-flow traffic management, backup plans for radio
communications, message placement on M4 or M1 VMS, and the monitoring and switching off of live traffic
web images.
Incident detection for TfNSW is the first step of the traffic management process. It is the process by which an
incident is brought to the attention of the agency or agencies responsible for maintaining traffic flow and safe
operations on the facility. The main method for the TMC at TfNSW for the detection (and verification) of
incidents is through Inter CAD Electronic Messaging System (ICEMS), which facilitates inter-agency
communication. Incidents can also be identified by stakeholders, SCATS Congestion Monitor, CCTV, Central
Management Computer System, Queue Management, iSentry, and members of the public.
The TMC utilises most of the aforementioned sources and/or technologies to verify, respond, monitor, and
clear the incident. Some actions to verify the incident, such as despatching resources as applicable for
verification, contacting the Police Liaison Office for assistance and requesting additional callers, are
completed manually. Incident response requires preparedness by each responding agency or service
provider. This is fostered through training and planning, both individually, and collectively with other response
agencies. Possible actions or the level of response depends on the severity of the incident and the impact on
the network.
Incident monitoring is the process of obtaining relevant information from the incident site and circulating as
appropriate. The TMC despatches additional recourses as required and assesses situational changes by
monitoring the impact of the incident on the network. The TMC adjusts devices (e.g. VMS), updates the
media as the situation changes and plans for site clearance. The penultimate step of the incident
management plan is incident clearance, which is achieved when respondents have departed the scene and
traffic flow has returned to normal. At times, this may also include temporary or permanent repair to the
infrastructure.
3.2 New Zealand

The New Zealand Coordinated Incident Management System (CIMS) is used to establish the structure, roles
and processes in managing traffic related incident response. The fundamental elements of response
structures, functions, processes, and common terminology are reported in the CIMS. With different operating
procedural requirement, individual agencies can develop their own CIMS.
There are five response levels in the CIMS: national, regional, local, incident and community. Most incidents
require only the activation of one or two response levels. Generally large-scale incidents require all levels of
response to be activated. Moreover, CIMS can be scaled up or down to manage specific incident type or
size. The decision to scale the response structure needs to be based on safety, size, complexity and span of
control.
To identify, verify and monitor road traffic incidents, the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) uses a
number of technologies that are usually used for traffic operation purposes such as road sensors, CCTV,
radio communications and phone calls.
A debrief is organised after an incident is cleared to assist in the identification of how to manage a future
incident more efficiently. All parties involved, including police and traffic operations controllers, when there is
a major incident which may severely affect the road users. The primary purpose of this is to assess the
incident situation specifically, where things went well and where they can be improved. Civil defence
exercises also take place regularly to ensure all emergency processes are up-to-date (NZ Transport Agency
2011).

3.3 Queensland
A Strategic Alliance for Road Operations and Partnership Agreement for Traffic Incident Management was
signed in 2010 between Queensland Police Service (QPS), Queensland Department of Transport and Main
Roads (TMR) and the Queensland Department of Community Safety (DCS). The aim was to develop closer
collaboration and working relations between the agencies in delivering optimal road operations during an
incident. This agreement outlined the responsibilities of participating agencies at the time of any incident.
All participating organisations have agreed to establish adequate coverage of the strategic network and
critical or high-risk infrastructure. TMR’s responsibilities involve the proactive use of CCTV, ITS, Traffic
Response Units and monitoring calls from the public (131 940). TMR is also responsible for the appropriate
coordination of incident information with participating agencies through its TMC/traffic operations network.
TMR has recently launched an online platform to provide traveller information services (qldtraffic.qld.gov.au).
This platform provides information about any road closure due to planned roadwork or natural disasters.
Responsibilities for traffic, site management and clearance are reliant on the incident category. For an inner
cordon, in most cases command is with QPS though this may fall to DSC depending on the nature of the
incident. On the other hand, in an outer cordon the responsibility is coordinated through the relevant TMC.
For minor incidents, assistance from QPS and DCS is not required.
To respond to an incident more quickly, TMR is actively rolling out an emergency vehicle priority (EVP)
system across Queensland (Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads 2017a). Emergency
vehicles such as ambulances and fire engines are fitted with technology to trigger traffic light sequences so
that respondents can travel from their depot to an incident site as quickly and as safely as possible. The EVP
system uses a computer-aided dispatch, GPS and traffic management information to determine the location
of the emergency vehicle and the predicted arrival time at the next set of traffic lights. Once the emergency
vehicle has passed, the traffic lights will return to a normal operation, minimising traffic disruptions.
3.4 South Australia

Incidents can be reported to the Traffic Management Centre (TMC) within the Department of Planning,
Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI), by numerous means such as automatic incident detection alarms, video
incident detection in tunnels and on the road, loop detection systems along the road, vehicle detectors at the
entrances of arrester beds, calls from the police, calls from the public and commercial operators, calls from
emergency roadside phones, and over-height vehicle detectors on the approaches to tunnel entrances. For
any wide area incidents such as those due to rain, fog, or ice on the road, incident reports are also collected
from the Bureau of Meteorology and weather stations. To supplement these reports, the TMC also monitors
road segments using CCTV which helps to visually detect the presence of incidents (usually indicated by
traffic queues), particularly during peak traffic periods. Furthermore, to monitor the performance of the
majority of the metropolitan Adelaide’s arterial road network a locally-developed Addinsight traffic intelligence
system is used (Cox n.d.). Details of this technology are presented in Section 4.3.1.
The TMC also implements variable speed limits to manage traffic. It is responsible for selecting the
appropriate warning messages corresponding to the nature and location of the incident. This message is
displayed on the applicable VMS to advise drivers of an incident ahead, reduced speed limit, lane blockages
and contra-flow traffic.
3.5 Victoria
To provide a fast response and swift clearance of traffic during an incident, VicRoads’ Incident Response
Service (IRS) patrols Victoria’s freeways and major roads and attends various incidents including crashes,
vehicle breakdowns and debris on the road. Moreover, to keep road users informed of traffic conditions and
to ensure the efficient use of multi-agency resources, IRS provides assistance to Victoria Police and other
emergency services. IRS’s responsibilities include the setting up of signage and the management of traffic
flow at the incident location.

The VicRoads Traffic Management Centre (TMC) is responsible for identifying incidents with the assistance
of CCTV, traffic detectors and information provided from emergency services and the public. The IRS can be
communicated with 24 hours a day and seven days a week via the VicRoads TMC (phone: 131 170).
VicRoads also provides information about incidents to the media for traffic reports.
3.6 Western Australia

Identification of the level of incident is the first step towards incident management in Western Australia.
Incidents are categorised into one of three levels: minor, major and crisis. The first response towards safe
traffic management and the securing of incident site is achieved by providing safe evacuation routes for
causalities and by managing network capacity at the optimum level. These activities are conducted by WA
Police (WAPOL) or Main Roads Western Australia (MRWA) Incident Response Service (IRS) depending on
the level of incident. MRWA is responsible for the preparation of emergency plans, business continuity plans
and traffic management plans. These plans are recorded in the web-based incident information management
system and reviewed according to the revision period stated in each plan.
A MoU has been signed by MRWA and WAPOL in relation to the use of laser scanning survey equipment to
achieve quicker clearance during an incident. WAPOL can use the laser scanning survey equipment to
quickly capture a permanent three-dimensional (3D), 360-degree visual record of the accident scene in great
detail. For insurance purposes or for possible police investigations, this use of this equipment is becoming
more common around the world as a way of providing a much safer, more flexible and faster way to
complete traffic investigations and reduce the impact on traffic flow. WAPOL shares its Computer Aided
Dispatch (CAD) real-time information with MRWA in terms of any road hazard which may result in severe
congestion and have an impact on emergency vehicles.
3.7 Other Jurisdictions

Other jurisdictions in Australia such as the ACT, the NT and Tasmania employ day-to-day traffic operation
techniques for traffic incident management. They utilise CCTV to identify and monitor traffic incidents. They
also rely on phone calls from the police and road users to detect and verify traffic incidents. Loop detectors
have been utilised to sense the traffic data as well as for the verification of an incident.

4. Contemporary Leading Practices in

Australasia
All aspects of planning, management and operations with respect to responding to traffic incidents are
included in TIM. TIM also includes strategic planning, evaluation, institutional arrangements, performance
evaluation and capability development. This section highlights the contemporary leading practices in these
areas by the different jurisdictions in Australia and New Zealand.
4.1 Multi-agency Collaboration within Each Jurisdiction

Effective traffic incident management operations require good inter-agency coordination and cooperation.
Road traffic and transport agencies, the police, fire brigade and ambulance services are the primary
organisations involved in traffic incident management in most jurisdictions across Australia and New
Zealand. However, the roles and responsibilities of the responding agencies vary according to stakeholder
and jurisdiction.
Setting up a formal agreement or MoU among responsible agencies can help in the achievement of more
efficient management of traffic incidents. These agreements reduce the possibility of misunderstanding,
disagreements, delays, and inefficiencies in resolving traffic incidents. In addition to highlighting the roles and
responsibilities of different stakeholders the MoUs address desired joint outcomes, incident command
structures, resource staging, traffic control, incidents involving hazardous materials and crash investigation
procedures, quick clearance procedures. They can also set performance goals such as response time or
incident clearance time.
For example, a MoU on Road Clearance has been signed between Victoria Police and VicRoads. This MoU
states the procedures to be followed at the time of incident clearance. To clear the incident in a timely and
compliant manner, it also states the requirement of a VicRoads Traffic Commander to be present at the
incident site if there is no VicRoads officer present. After satisfactory completion of all statutory
responsibilities, the most senior Victoria Police officer present at the incident site will hand over the site to the
VicRoads Traffic Commander who takes responsibility for clearing the incident site. During this process, if
required, Victoria Police may remain at the site. VicRoads bear the costs associated with clearing the
incident and, at its discretion, may instigate cost recovery measures against another party or parties.
Organised multi-agency incident management teams (IMTs) are a tool for achieving the established goals
and objectives of the traffic incident management program. These teams are comprised of different
representatives from different agencies and perform certain set of responsibilities. They deal with inter-
agency cooperation, set the command and control hierarchy, traffic planning during an incident, the
development and conduct of training components, policy issues and the organisation of post-incident
briefings with the public and the media.
4.2 Planning for Traffic Incident Management

To ensure the most effective response in a timely manner, operational planning for potential traffic incident
scenarios is an important step. This includes assigning the potential workload and planned response by
different categories such as the location of the incident, the level of incident, time of day and day of week on
critical traffic networks. This will enable an appropriate level of service to be achieved. As listed in
Appendix B, NSW has produced a comprehensive list of policies and procedures to guide the
implementation of TIM practices and techniques.

Most of the jurisdictions in Australia follow the current practice of planning for traffic incident management
recommended by Austroads (2007e). It highlights the requirements of a planning team to progress the
planning and management of incidents along with the development of agreed objectives and desired
outcomes, and the understanding of the competing objectives of the various responders. It needs a clear
understanding of each stakeholder’s objectives and priorities.
4.3 Traffic Incident Management
4.3.1 Incident Detection and Verification
Incident detection or being notified about a traffic incident is the very first action in incident management.
Most of the jurisdictions across Australia and New Zealand have adopted different technologies to detect and
verify incidents in transport networks. Some commonly used incident detection and verification technologies
are CCTV, Automatic Incident Detection (e.g., Addinsight, SCATS, STREAMS) and iSentry. Most of the
jurisdictions rely heavily on field units to verify an incident. There are a range of other technologies available
for traffic management which are also used to detect incidents such as pneumatic tubes, microwave radar,
video image detection, vehicle probes, Bluetooth, mobile phone location and so on.
In early 2012, the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI) undertook a comprehensive
survey of network travel times utilising Bluetooth technology. This project was so successful that DPTI have
developed a product called Addinsight based on the technology utilised during the survey. Later, using the
same working principle, a smartphone app was developed. This app uses a network of more than 700
Bluetooth receivers to generate real-time travel times and identify delays and congestion. The data is then
provided back to the driver in the form of spoken alerts, giving the driver advanced warning of the location of
delays and how many minutes of travel time those delays are expected to cause. This allows motorists to
divert to another route to avoid the delay.
The original purpose of this system was to estimate travel times across the transport network in real time;
however, the system also assists in the identification of incidents as well as to monitor incidents and road
works. A dedicated ‘map view’ has been developed within this system to identify the incident in the network
since sometimes it is not possible to identify the incident from a congested link alone. Out of all the options
considered by the DPTI, Bluetooth technology appeared to be the most cost-effective; the receivers
continuously analyse travel time data, identify the incidents for over 2000 road segments that covers nearly
900 km of the arterial road network in South Australia (Cox n.d.). Addinsight also has the ability to provide
customised messages in response to an incident. These messages come straight from the TMC and can be
up to 200 characters in length, which allows it to provide considerably more information than a VMS.
The app is currently being trialled by seven other road authorities within Australia and New Zealand.
Recently, the Addinsight system and smartphone app was recognised at the ITS Australia National Awards
(Mullighan 2016).
4.3.2 Response to Traffic Incidents
To clear a traffic incident in a safe and timely manner, a proper response necessitates understanding of the
incident location, nature and scope. An efficient response also requires the essential resources and high-
level working procedures to clear an incident.
In most of the jurisdictions, response to traffic incidents is categorised according to the nature and severity of
the incident. For example, as described in Section 3.6, MRWA has established three levels of incident
severity. MRWA also categorises the actions required by different stakeholders, people involved in the
incident, environment of the incident and resources required for each incident level. Once the level of
incident has been identified the next step is the activation of a suitable incident management plan and
deployment of appropriate resources to the incident site. At this stage the incident is monitored closely for
possible escalation in accordance with MRWA policy.

Austroads (2007e) has proposed a ‘five-level’ incident classification depending on the expected duration and
the nature of the incident. Table 4.1 shows a comprehensive classification of incidents to assist in
appropriate and fast responses.
Table 4.1: Incident types and classification
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Type of incident Vehicle on Vehicle in lane Minor crash (no Injury crash Major injury
shoulder injury) Debris crash
Minor debris Fire Hazmat
Fires
Estimated Duration Nil 0-30 minutes 30-60 mins 1-2 hours >2 hours
Response TRU/tow TRU/tow Police Police Police
Traffic control Traffic control Fire Fire
Tow Medical Medical
Clean up Traffic control Hazmat
Tow Traffic control
Clean up Tow
Clean up
Source: Austroads (2007e).
Another key factor that facilitates a prompt response is effective and well-synchronised communication
between responder agencies. This includes compatible communications systems and mutually-understood
definitions, jargon and descriptions of processes and technologies. By conducting inter-agency training
exercises on a regular basis, a mutually-acceptable response procedure can be established.
4.3.3 Traffic Management
Traffic management encompasses the application of traffic control measures in areas affected by an incident
in order to minimise traffic disruption while maintaining a safe workplace for responders (Austroads 2007e).
To manage road traffic during incident response, most of the jurisdictions practice some combination of the
following procedures depending on the level of response required:
• establishing point traffic control on-scene
• filtering traffic past the incident scene
• detouring traffic onto an alternative route
• contra-flow management
• end-of-queue management
• managing the roadway space (e.g. opening and closing lanes, blocking only that portion of the incident
scene that is needed for safety, staging and parking emergency vehicles and equipment to minimise
impact on traffic flow)
• deploying appropriate personnel to assist in traffic management
• actively managing traffic control devices including traffic signals and designating
• developing, and operating alternate routes.
Traffic management procedures also vary based on the type of road (e.g. local road, arterial, motorway),
type of diversion route (e.g., sign-posted and non-sign posted), and the weight and size of vehicles (e.g.
heavy vehicles and over dimensioned loads).

Collaboration with emergency services and other key stakeholders can facilitate effective traffic management
and provide a better service to road users and the entire road network. As recommended by Austroads,
traffic management centres need to coordinate incident notification and response, and each stakeholder
should train all responders in efficient traffic management.
4.3.4 Traveller Information
Most of the jurisdictions use VMS, radio broadcasts, internet or online services, smartphone applications and
telephone information systems to disseminate incident-related information to affected motorists. There is an
opportunity to improve traveller information dissemination by extracting real-time incident-related information
from social media and route planning application from third parties (e.g. Google, Tomtom and HERE). Data
fusion and analytics are important in combining data and information from multiple sources.
It should be noted that some motorists may use third-party sources such as Google Maps and Apple Maps
for navigation and for obtaining traffic information. These third-party providers disseminate traffic information
based on historical travel time on a selected route. Very rarely do these vendors provide raw data and it is
almost always processed in some way. This can lead to uncertainty and hide insights. Also, it is not possible
to infer traffic volume (AADT and similar measures) from travel time or speed data with any reliability
(Caceres, Wideberg & Benitez 2008).
If transportation agencies develop a navigation app for their jurisdiction, they can potentially provide real-time
incident-related information to its motorists. Moreover, agencies would have control of the complete data
collection and processing system and would not be dependent on a third-party supplier (e.g. SUNA Traffic).
This is the path that South Australia has taken, through its Addinsight system, which includes a
complementary smartphone app. While providing the public with real-time congestion information, the
Addinsight system provides the TMC with raw traffic data from about 15% of the traffic using the network.
4.4 Performance Evaluation

Performance evaluation is one of the key factors in any type of incident management practice. Performance
evaluation guides the investigation of investment options, helps to determine policies, and assists to estimate
the return on investment and assess options. In addition, it can assist in the evaluation of performance by
monitoring and reviewing performance by measuring achievements against objectives. Many agencies
evaluate their in-house performance every year using key performance indicators, benchmarking and
reporting parameters.
To measure the efficiency of the overall incident management process, transport agencies largely collect
information about all aspects of traffic incidents such as the arrival and departure times of all response
services to measure TIM performance. On the other hand, emergency services agencies generally only
collect information related to their agency (Austroads 2007e). A performance measurement framework that
can be considered as best practice and is outlined in Table 4.2.

Table 4.2: Performance measurement framework
Item Input Process Output

Incident Management Detection and verification Response, performance Minimise traffic delays;
evaluation and review maintain safety
Potential measures • number of incidents (by • response time of responders • delays due to incidents
category: major, • response time (detection to • secondary incidents
intermediate, minor) activation) • customer satisfaction
• time to detect, verify • number of traffic diversions (complaints, media
• time to clear incidents reports)
• duration of incidents
• number of responses to
enquiries
• lane-loss time
• relationships with responders
• major incident debrief/audit
4.5 Capability Development

To improve the quality of working practice among traffic incident management professionals, a number of
areas of capability development can be considered. According to Austroads (2007e), capabilities can be
improved firstly within individual agencies and secondly across multiple agencies, at both the strategic and
operational levels.
Various state and local transport agencies provide in-house courses plus some inter-agency desktop and
field training. These types of training activities solely focus on the usage of software tools and equipment
used for incident management. However, there are very limited opportunities for training courses in the area
of traffic incident management in educational or transport agencies across Australia and New Zealand.
Microscopic simulation modelling is an effective tool to show how an incident develops over time across a
transport network. Different types of training, such as intensive short courses run at regular intervals, in-
house training run by agencies, or training run by universities or other training providers would be beneficial
for traffic incident management professionals.
Skills and capabilities of the professionals can be developed by other means which are highlighted in
Austroads (2007e), including:
• having access to a network of professionals, thus enabling quick and ready access to the combined pool
of experience and skills, and to seek advice from peers
• attending seminars and conferences, both in Australia and internationally
• undertaking desktop reviews, study tours or benchmarking activities, both nationally and internationally.
Capability development towards technological advancements should be given greater priority as the
inclusion of technology in various TIM stages is increasing rapidly. Establishing a reference library containing
all relevant manuals, guidelines, reports, and web links associated with leading technological practices would
be beneficial in this regard.

4.6 Relevance to Network Operations Planning

Network operation planning is a planning process undertaken to align network operation initiatives and
improvements with network operation objectives, high-level network strategies and the movement and place
functions of a road network. It is recognised that network operation planning is relatively new and its
methodology is still evolving. At a national level, Austroads published a section on network operation
planning in the Guide to Traffic Management Part 4 (Austroads 2016a) and a network operations planning
framework in a research report (Austroads 2009b).
Containing a network overview, road use priorities and a prioritisation list of improvement projects, a network
operation plan (NOP) provides guidance on the day-to-day management of a road network. An accessibility-
based NOP incorporates accessibility planning concepts and targets for specific road user groups into the
network operations planning framework by considering travel time and level of service (LOS) for the entire
journey (Austroads 2015a). Furthermore, a LOS framework was developed by Austroads (2015b) to enable
integrated planning and decision-making within network operations that recognises the needs of the various
road users.
A process for network operation planning consists of seven phases as shown in Figure 4.1. Similar to the
TIM process, interagency collaboration and stakeholder consultation is integral to the network operation
planning process.
Figure 4.1: Network operation planning process
Source: Austroads (2016a).
The relevance of TIM practices and techniques to network operation planning can be identified and
discussed at each phase of the network operation planning process as shown in Table 4.3.

Table 4.3: Relevance of network operation planning to traffic incident management practices and techniques
Network Operation Planning

Relevance to Traffic Incident Management
Phase Description
Network operation • Transport outcomes sought by the • The aim of restoring normal traffic quickly
objectives government and community. Primary and safely during a traffic incident should be
objectives are improving travel efficiency one of the primary network operation
and road safety. Other examples of network objectives for major routes.
operation objectives are: • When considering the multiple aspects of
- encourage walking and cycling network performance (including access,
- optimise vehicular throughput with information and amenity), mobility and
reduced delay safety are equally paramount for traffic
- improve freight movement on a priority incident management.
route
• The objectives take into account road user
group requirements, road functions and
network performance
Road use • Road use priorities for links and nodes are • Road use and time-based priorities should
priorities developed based on the movement and be considered in traffic incident
place functions, the network operation management planning.
objectives and the requirements of the
various road users (e.g. public transport,
freight, cyclist and pedestrian).
• Second-level priorities can be set based on
time-of-day and day-of-week road use.
Network • Performance measures and targets are • Relevant performance gaps for traffic
performance established to reflect the needs of road incident management are mobility impact,
users and agencies. safety concerns and inadequate traveller
• A performance gap, a difference between information.
baseline and target performance indicators, • The performance gaps can be analysed at
is calculate for individual links and road user link, route and network levels by using LOS
groups in order to identify problem areas as a metric. They can be compared and
and investment prioritisation. aggregated within and across different user
groups.
Network • While the performance gaps identify where • Similar to the network performance
strategies and when emphasis should be given to the considerations, network strategies for traffic
road use priorities, network strategies incident management are related to
provide guidance in developing traffic mobility, safety and traveller information.
management, operation and infrastructure
solutions.
Traffic • This phase involves an option identification • Traffic incident management and
management, against the network strategies as well as an improvement options can be assessed in
operation and option evaluation based on a network fit this regard to gauge project viability and
improvement assessment and a benefit-cost analysis. rank them based on value-for-money.
plans • NOP(s) at higher-level planning (i.e.
Use and • The NOP is developed to assist decision network, corridor and route) should include
implementation makers in improving the management of operational initiatives and infrastructure
NOP road infrastructure. adjustment for traffic incident management.
• Development and implementation of a
program to deploy network operation and
improvement initiatives
Evaluation of • The last phase includes data collection to • Post-implementation review of TIM
plans and network continually monitor the performance of the initiatives and programs has been
performance network, cost-effectiveness review of integrated in the best practice framework
interventions and assessing the extent to (Austroads 2007e). Nonetheless, the
which the initiatives have contributed to evaluation process can be extended to
meeting the established objectives. capture road use priorities and network
performance.

4.7 Relevance to ‘Safe System’ Approach

As illustrated in Figure 4.2, central to the Safe System approach is the understanding that road users are
fallible and will make mistakes. Humans can only tolerate limited kinetic energy exchange before death or
serious injury occurs. Forgiving infrastructure that takes these vulnerabilities and mistakes into account is
therefore required. The Safe System approach is being incorporated onto the entire road transport network
to ensure motorists safety and gradually move towards zero serious and fatal injuries on roadways
(Australian Transport Council 2011, Ministry of Transport 2010).
Figure 4.2: Safe system approach and principles
Source: Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (2015).
Safe System principles aim at managing the four pillars of road and roadside infrastructure, speed, road
users and vehicles to eliminate death and serious injury as a consequence of a road crash. A fifth pillar,
involving emergency response and post-crash care is often cited internationally (Austroads 2016b).
It is therefore important that Safe System principles are integrated into TIM practices and techniques. The
relationship between traffic incident management and the Safe System approach based on the five pillars is
shown in Table 4.4.

Table 4.4: Relevance of the safe system approach to traffic incident management practices and techniques
Safe System
Relevance to Traffic Incident Management
Pillar Description
Safe roads and • Roads and roadsides should minimise • Traffic management measures and techniques
roadsides the risk of crashes occurring, and, when are to prioritise the treatment of road and
crashes do occur, ensure that the roadside hazards during an incident in the
likelihood of death or serious injury is following orders:
minimised. - elimination
• Roads should be predictable, self- - isolation
explaining and encourage safe travel - minimisation
speeds. • The extent of traffic control devices (e.g. safety
barriers, delineators and signage) employed is
to reflect the incident levels and speed limits.
Safe speeds • Operating speeds that safely suit the • Proactive speed management is central to
function and environment of the road so traffic management during an incident. Speed
that crash impact forces are managed limits should be varied in accordance with road,
within human tolerances. traffic and weather conditions.
• Speed limits are credible to encourage • The appropriate management of speed on
road users to obey and drive to approach to an incident can reduce the
conditions. potential for, and severity of, secondary
incidents to occur, and can assist in the
diversion of traffic to avoid an incident location.
Safe vehicles • Vehicle design features and technology • In-vehicle intelligent systems not only provide
can minimise the likelihood of crashes an advance warning for a driver, but also
occurring and protect road users enable incident detection and traffic
(occupants and other road users) when management.
crashes do occur.
Safe road users • Road users should be alert, comply with • All road and system users, including travellers,
road rules and engage in safe responders and road workers, are to be
behaviour. considered during the TIM planning stage.
• They are supported through education, • Traveller information is critical to enable safe
enforcement and admittance to the user behaviour as well as alert and compliant
system (e.g. licensing). road users.
Safe post-crash • Emergency and medical services • The needs of emergency and medical service
care operate efficiently and rapidly. teams are taken into account at the incident
• Emergency and incident response team management planning stage and their
as well as other road users are protected response should be prioritised during the TIM
during a crash event. stage.
• Drivers and travellers at and around the crash
site are provided with accurate and timely
information with regard to travelling speeds,
detours and traffic management.

5. Development of Traffic Incident Management

Framework
A nationally agreed incident management framework has been developed based on contemporary leading
practices and techniques with the aim being to harmonise jurisdictional approaches to TIM. The following
sections outline the framework.
5.1 Purpose and Objectives of the Framework

The primary goal of the framework is to present the many aspects of incident management in a systematic
and harmonised manner. The framework, underpinned by agreed principles, will provide road network
managers and incident management service providers with an overarching guidance and a common
understanding of the on-going processes for integrating traffic incident management approaches. It
incorporates contemporary leading-edge incident management techniques that can be employed to provide
a quick, effective and coordinated incident response process to safely return normal traffic flow. It is
anticipated that the implementation of the framework will enhance the operation and safety of the road
network.
5.2 Traffic Incident Management Principles

Within the broader scope of maintaining mobility and improving safety during an incident, the TIM framework
is underpinned by the following management principles.
• Inter-jurisdictional and multi-agency collaboration – the importance of stakeholder coordination in
order to establish a collective agreement for a quick response cannot be overemphasised. Clearly,
delineated roles and responsibilities between all the agencies before, during and after the incident are
critical to ensure a sense of urgency in safely re-establish normal traffic conditions.
• Modular structure with a common language – it is important that structure of multi-agency response
team can be adapted to suit different levels of incidents. A common language with consistent, agreed
terminology is critical for effective communication during each stage of the TIM process.
• Multi-stage incident response planning – the recognition that TIM, from incident detection to traffic
recovery, assists operational planning, performance evaluation and process improvements.
• Prioritisation of TIM initiatives for value for money – rather than focusing exclusively on the delay-
reducing benefits, a process to evaluate net benefits (value for money) should take into account the ‘triple
bottom line’ (Austroads 2009a) that includes economic (financial), social and environmental implications.
• Quick clearance policy – unless there is a justification otherwise (e.g. thorough investigation required
after a major incident), quick clearance is a fundamental principle in traffic incident management.
Relevant laws, policies and procedures should reflect this.
• Technological adaptation at various TIM stages – drawing upon advanced information processing,
telecommunications and electronic technologies, ITS provides road user support services at different
incident management stages, from user information, traffic management, advanced vehicle controls and
data warehousing services.
• Feedback, evaluation and continuous improvement – a post-incident review, on-going process
evaluation and capability building are equally important for improving TIM practice.

5.3 Proposed Traffic Incident Management Framework

The proposed TIM framework is presented in Figure 5.1. It captures the goals, objectives and principles of
planning and implementing TIM activities. The integrated process for traffic incident management (IPTIM) is
an iterative process, incorporating the following five key management phases as generally discussed in the
best practice report (Austroads 2007e) and in Appendix A.1.5:
• multi-agency collaboration
• planning for traffic incident management
• traffic incident management (TIM)
• performance evaluation
• capability development.
The inter-jurisdictional and multi-agency collaboration phase is a critically important first step in the
framework as it establishes a relationship and interaction among the jurisdictions and the various agencies
(police, transport agency, fire and rescue, medical emergency and towing and recovery) and stakeholders
(media and user groups) to support one another. A formal agreement is required to guide the development of
a modular team structure with common objectives and language, clear command hierarchy and designated
responder roles and responsibilities.
The second phase is the planning process. To improve the resource efficacy and deliver greater community
benefits, it is imperative to plan incident response procedures and prioritise TIM programs and initiatives.
Benefits can be realised by a wide range of means such as improved safety, reduced congestion and
reliable incident-related information. A multi-stage planning for TIM can be instigated by identifying the needs
and establishing desired objectives and outcomes at each TIM stage from incident detection to traffic
recovery. A strategic framework and setting up performance measures should also be considered at the
planning phase.
During the TIM stages, it is important to adapt new technologies and to automate procedures to enable quick
and safe clearance. The application of technology (e.g. the use of Bluetooth technology and automatic
incident detection algorithms to detect and verify incidents) can be observed in the findings of the literature
and jurisdictional review. Performance evaluation and capability development are the last two phases of the
IPTIM. They are essential for an ongoing process and procedural improvement, especially with the
adaptation of advanced TIM technology.

Figure 5.1: Incident management framework

6. Conclusions and Future Research

The main purpose of this project was to investigate current local and international incident management
techniques and develop a harmonised incident management framework that supports network operations
planning.
The TIM framework proposed in this report has taken into account the understanding gained from the
literature review and the review of current practices in Australia and New Zealand. The framework,
underpinned by seven principles, has incorporated the overarching TIM goal and objective of maintaining
mobility and improving safety during an incident.
The adoption of emerging transport technologies, particularly those related to the use of smartphone,
Bluetooth and drone technology, for incident detection and verification, will help minimise traffic disruption
and improve the traffic incident management process.
While the potential implications and benefits of the new technologies within the TIM framework have been
briefly discussed in this report, the quantification of the technological impact on safety and efficiency for the
different TIM techniques needs to be further investigated.

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Appendix A Austroads Project NS1017
A.1 Overview
Austroads Project NS1017 was a significant milestone in establishing an on-going improvement process in
TIM in Australia and New Zealand. As shown in Figure A 1, the project consisted of six tasks. The first five
tasks resulted in five published reports (Austroads 2007a–2007e). A synopsis of each publication with
respect to relevant TIM principles and techniques is presented in the following sections.
Figure A 1: Six tasks in Austroads Project NS1017
A.1.1 Task 1 – Literature Review
The literature review (Austroads 2007b) classified the literature on TIM into two categories: the operations
and management of the TIM programs and the other technological and modelling aspects that support TIM
implementation. While the former was in the domain of practitioners, the technology aspects of the incident
management system literature were predominantly from universities and research institutes.
The TIM process was characterised by seven incident management activities: detection, verification, motorist
information, response, site management, traffic management and clearance (PB Farradyne 2000). As
depicted in Figure A 2, a proper response can only be actioned after an incident is verified. A detailed
description of each management step, which has not fundamentally changed, can be found in Austroads
(2007b).

Figure A 2: Seven traffic incident management activities
Source: Austroads (2007b).
These seven activities associated with dealing with the incident and the resultant traffic management and
clearance sit within a broader incident management program (Margiotta, Voorhies, & Lomax 2004). The
program is a cycle of processes that involve an objective setup, stakeholder collaboration, option
development and selection, implementation and performance evaluation. It binds together the actions from
the various responding agencies.
In general accordance with O’Laughlin & Smith (2002), the report identifies a number of advanced TIM
practices. Table A 1 outlines the practices and their descriptions.
Table A 1: Advanced traffic incident management practices
Practice Description
Quick clearance policy • Practice to rapidly and safely remove temporary obstructions form the roadway
• Involve the use of laws, policies and procedures to quickly clear traffic incidents
• Address barriers to quick incident removal, including:
• improper/delayed response
• prolonged site investigation
• indecision driven by unclear policies and procedures and liability risks.
• Supported by new technologies (e.g. software application using photogrammetric
techniques to measure incident scene and evidence gathering
Automatic incident • Ability to detect incidents by electronic means rather than by human observations
detection • Two basic components of a data collection system (e.g. using inductive loop
detectors and closed circuit television (CCTV)) and incident detection algorithm
(based on a time series analysis)
Interoperability and • Critical for multi-agency communication and collaboration
technology integration
Service patrol and 24-hour • Service patrols could significantly reduce incident response and clearance time
incident response • Incident response team comprising of interdisciplinary team specially trained in
emergency procedures and working closely with traffic operation centres
Interagency agreement • Coordinate communication and collaboration between various agencies
• Establish a regional incident management program
• Promote public awareness and cooperation
Inter-agency training • Enable knowledge transfer in traffic incident management program and procedures
Microsimulation • Analyse the impact of traffic incident management scenarios and programs to
support a decision-making process with graphics interfaces
Source: Austroads (2007b).

From a network performance perspective, it is important as a first step to implement the ITS systems that are
able to adequately collect basic traffic data (speed, flow and occupancy), which will provide flow-on benefits
for automatic incident detection and traffic incident management.
A.1.2 Task 2 – Current Practices
The review of the current TIM practices in five capital city regions in Australia employed a qualitative, self-
assessment method, developed by US Federal Highway Administration (Federal Highway Administration
2010) to provide a formal process for multi-agencies to collaboratively assess their TIM programs and
identify opportunities for improvement.
The assessment method consists of a series of questions designed to rate performance across all areas of
TIM, which are functionally divided into:
• program and institutional issues – strategy and programs, resourcing, performance measurement,
institutional arrangements
• operational issues – procedures for major incidents, responder and motorist safety, response and
clearance policies and procedures
• communication and technology issues – integrated inter-agency communications, transport management
systems & traveller information.
With a five-point rating scale, ranging from zero (no progress in the area) to four (outstanding efforts with
good to excellent integration and results), the assessment outcome revealed the highest ratings were found
in the operational aspects, followed by communication and technology Issues and program and institutional
issues.
The results that showed a high level of success and progress in the tactical operations were and still are
consistent with the year-to-year results in the US – refer to national analysis reports from 2004 to 2014 in
Federal Highway Administration (2017). This reflects not only the focus of and attention to on-scene
operations, but also the continuing perceptions of deficiency particularly in the strategic areas e.g. lack of a
formal structure for multiagency collaboration, agreed inter-agency strategies for annual programs and
tracking of performance measures and targets.
An outline of other suggestions in the review report relevant to this project is as follows:
• Program and institutional
– the key priorities of traffic incident management efforts for responder agencies, preferably documented
in a medium (5–10 year) term strategic plan
– adequately resources with clearly identified funding and staffing requirements
– performance measurements and benchmarking at agency and interagency levels
– clear accountability for TIM in organisation structure and position descriptions.
• Operational
– 24/7 availability of high ranking agency for traffic management of ‘major incidents’ with involvement of
all key agencies
– standard compliance for on-scene traffic control procedures appropriate for the various levels of
incidents
– use of Incident Command System for multiagency response coordination in order for quick, safe and
effective incident clearance.
• Communication and Technology
– effective two-way interagency voice communications system, allowing for direct on-site communication
between responders and provision of data and video information between agencies

– communication and control centres equipped with technology infrastructure for surveillance, rapid
detection and monitoring of incidents
– provision of real-time incident specific information either on-road via message signs or by other media
such as radio or the Internet.
A.1.3 Task 3 – Evaluation Framework
With the goal of developing an evaluation framework to assess and prioritise TIM projects (e.g. new incident
detection and information systems, upgrading of emergency lanes, and additional resources for an incident
response team), this research task explored potential TIM benefits based on safety, economic and
environmental criteria.
A number of investment evaluation methods and tools that assist decision making were considered, and,
subsequently, the recommended framework embraced both a benefit cost analysis (BCA) and a modified
multi criterial analysis (MCA). While BCA was found to be well understood by most practitioners and
stakeholders, and provides a comprehensive approach to capture monetised benefits, cost and impacts,
MCA is able to take into account both qualitative and non-monetisable impacts.
The impacts of a loss of network capacity from traffic incidents involve a restriction to mobility and access,
congestion and increased safety risks. The cost impact factors due to the implementation of a TIM initiative
are presented in Table A 2.
Table A 2: Cost impact factors for traffic incidents
Criteria Cost Impact Factor TIM Impact

Safety Road crash victims Reduction in number and severity of injury by reducing time to extract victims
and transport them to a medical facility
Incident responders Reduction in health and safety hazards and injury risk from reduced exposure
to passing traffic
Road users Reduction in secondary incidents due to high speed differentials and
distraction
Increase in exposure to safety risk on diversion routes due to sub-standard
road geometry and higher risk areas (e.g. schools)
Economic Cost of delay Reduction in time and costs incurred
Cost of incident Reduction in additional cost of responders and equipment
Travel time reliability Reduction in transport costs (e.g. trip time allowances, especially for freight)
Reduction in fleet size due to reduced time allowances
Asset damage Increase in cost to road agency due to diversion (esp. of heavy vehicles) and
the removal of vehicle and debris from roadway
Environmental Emissions Reduction in vehicle emissions
Noise Reduction in noise impacts due to diverted vehicles
Energy use Reduction in fuel consumption
Hazardous spills Reduction in extent of spills
Amenity Increase in diverted traffic through neighbourhoods
Increase in discomfort due to lack of wayfinding and traffic guidance
In determining the benefit and cost of various incident management projects and initiatives, the delay impact
of a traffic incident can be graphically represented in the form of an incident delay polygon. As shown in
Figure A 3 the delay polygon in veh-hr per incident is the area between the cumulative arrival and departures
on the vertical axis and time on the horizontal axis.

Figure A 3: Incident clearance with and without an incident management system
Source: Austroads (2007a) (Modified by the author).

The impact of incidents on traffic flow (i.e. polygon area) can be reduced by implementing one or a
combination of TIM initiatives. In Diagram (b) of Figure A 3 delay reduction is enabled by the installation of
an incident management system to minimise time to detect, response and clear an incident, coupled with the
provision of traffic condition information and instructions to motorists to use an alternative route. The total
time taken to restore normal traffic flow is subsequently reduced.
Similar to Figure A 2, Figure A 4 illustrates incident management events with an emphasis on the timeline
from an incident occurrence to the time when traffic operation returns to normal. With a well-coordinated
plan, an incident management system enable a timely and effective response.
Figure A 4: Event timeline during an incident
A.1.4 Task 4 – Microsimulation
Microsimulation is a useful tool to plan and analyse complex traffic operations for incident management. It
has been employed by road transport agencies for evaluating motorway and arterial incident management
options using a range of software packages. It is important to differentiate the terms ‘software package’ and
‘model’. The software package is a microsimulation platform on which a model is developed. In other words,
a microsimulation traffic model (MSTM) is developed in a software package such as AIMSUN, PARAMICS
and VISSIM.
The guiding principles in using MSTMs for the planning, operation and training of incident management are
as follows:
• MSTMs are simulations of the real world with limitations. They are appropriate for testing different
scenarios and identifying best strategies based on a comparison of model outputs.
• A MSTM for motorway incident management should include both the motorway and adjacent arterials to
enable the analysis of route diversion.

• A comprehensive study of incident management strategies should involve analysing MSTM outputs at
different levels of planning, including a network, stream (route), segment (link) and detector.
• A sensitivity analysis should be carried out on incident parameters including level of route diversion,
incident duration, severity (extent of lane closure) and start time of the incident.
To substantiate the use of microsimulation as a planning, operation and training aid, an additional activity
was added in the incident management process as shown in Figure A 5.
Figure A 5: Additional traffic incident management step of planning, evaluation and performance monitoring
Source: Austroads (2007c).
This forward planning activity within the TIM process involves an advanced planning of detour routes, control
strategies, alternative signal timing plans and other pre-planned measures.
A.1.5 Task 5 – Best Practices
Traffic incident management is a process of managing multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional response to road

traffic incidents. It encompasses the planning, management, operations and review of incident management
activities. Safety of road users and responders is paramount. In FHWA’s Traffic Incident Management
Handbook (PB Farradyne 2000), incident management is defined as:
The systematic, planned, and coordinated use of human, institutional, mechanical, and
technical resources to reduce the duration and impact of incidents, and improve the safety of
motorists, crash victims, and incident responders.
According to Dunn and Latoski (2003), a traffic incident can be defined as:
An unplanned event creating a temporary reduction in roadway capacity that, in turn, impedes
the normal flow of traffic.

Emergency events (e.g. extreme weather, natural disasters and terrorism) as well as planned events (e.g.
roadworks and special events) that impact safety and traffic flow can also be considered in the TIM process.
In other words, a traffic incident refers to any event that degrades safety and/or traffic flow.
In developing best practices in traffic incident management, it is important to identify stakeholders and
recognise their objectives for responding to traffic incidents. As can be observed in Table A 3, some
objectives are conflicting. For example, a business traveller would like quick incident clearance in order to
minimise travel time and operating costs while a police officer may require a longer period of time for proper
incident investigation.
Table A 3: Stakeholders and their objectives for traffic incident management
Stakeholder Objective
Network Road and traffic authority Minimise delay and improve incident safety
manager
Reduce vehicle emissions, air pollution and energy use
Limit additional infrastructure required
Provide information to road users for better travel choices
Toll operators Reduce travel times to encourage patronage
Minimise incident delays
Road user Freight Achieve on-time delivery with reliable travel times
Reduce operating costs
Public transport Reduce travel time to encourage patronage
Achieve reliable travel time and schedules
Minimise delays due to incidents
Business traveller Minimise travel time
Service Police service Maintain public safety and protect responders
provider
Investigate causes, criminal acts
Emergency services, fire, medical Provide a rapid response to emergencies
Access and occupy incident sites effectively and safely
Information service provider Provide rapid and accurate value-added information
The report identified five major management phases that constitute the complete cycle (framework) of
integrated traffic incident management. The five phases are:
1. planning for traffic incident management
2. institutional arrangements
3. traffic incident management, including detection & verification, response, site management, investigation
& clearance, and traffic management & traveller information
4. evaluation and performance review
5. capability development.
While the detailed descriptions, techniques and process of each stage are comprehensively included in
Austroads (2007e), it is important to elaborate on the third phase as it is relevant to the project objectives.

An overview of the temporal development of a traffic incident from occurrence to return of normal traffic
conditions is shown in Figure A 6. As documented in Section 4.3, this project focuses of identifying
contemporary leading traffic incident management practices and techniques is particularly related to the
following five TIM components:
1. incident detection
2. incident verification
3. incident response
4. traffic management
5. traveller information.
The aim of these components is to provide a quick, effective and well-coordinated response in order to
minimise the duration and impact of a traffic incident.
Figure A 6: Traffic incident management timeline
Detection is the process of collecting information or ‘intelligence’ about the occurrence of an incident.
Verification is the process of confirming that an incident has really occurred. Incident verification is required
before responding and is especially important if the source of incident information is unknown, incomplete or
contradictory. The techniques of incident detection and verification as well as the data sources are outlined in
Table A 4.
The following traffic data collection technologies that are employed for normal traffic operations and
management can also be used for incident detection (Federal Highway Administration 2003):
• Inductive loops – most common detector technology. Loops are embedded in the pavement to detect the
presence of a vehicle.
• Microwave radar, infrared and ultrasonic detectors – non-intrusive devices, which are mounted on a
structure above or alongside the roadway.
• Video and thermal image detection – processes images from a camera. System performance may be
sensitive to the level of ambient light. Thermal imaging systems are more costly but have the advantage
of working in all levels of illumination.

• Probe surveillance – use of Bluetooth/Wi-Fi devices and electronic toll tags in probe vehicles as sensors
to measure speed and travel time.
• Mobile phone location – similar to vehicle probes, mobile phones using triangulation can measure travel
speeds.
Table A 4: Incident detection and verification techniques
Source Technique Description

General public 000 Emergency call Incidents reported to emergency call centre, and subsequently to
emergency services who then advise transport agency
Most common means of detection with 24/7 operation
Traffic report hotline Incidents reported to transport call centre
Fast detection and verification if CCTV is available
Roadside emergency Direct connection to transport agency call centre
phone
Accurate phone location and 24/7 phone availability
Professional driver Traffic incident watch Incidents reported by a network of professional drivers e.g. buses,
trucks, taxis and couriers in collaboration with transport agency staff
and police patrols
Road patrol Police motorcycle Peak period patrol or high-risk road sections
patrol
Incident response unit Special or towing vehicle to patrol high incident locations during peak
periods
Vehicle Mayday When triggered, distress signal transmitted automatically to private
call centre
Accurate location with Global Positing System (GPS)
Camera (CCTV) Use of pan-tilt-zoom cameras in a traffic control centre to monitor
major traffic routes and tunnels
Automatic incident detection Software algorithms to detect change in speed and flow
(e.g. STREAMS, SCATS and Addinsight) characteristics from normal traffic
Infrastructure requirement of detection devices (e.g. detector loops at
an adequate interval)
Aerial traffic monitor Use of aircraft during peak periods by traffic reporting services
Source: Based on Austroads (2007e).
Using the best possible information, verification is the determination of the accurate location of an incident
and its nature (type, extent and severity) in order to provide an appropriate response. Incident response is
the dispatch, coordination and management of necessary resources to an incident scene for incident site
management, investigation and clearance. It entails deployment of the appropriate personnel, equipment
and materials as soon as the incident is verified. Examples of incident response techniques are shown in
Table A 5.

Table A 5: Incident response techniques
Technique Description
Incident type and response Scope and extent of a response (resources and agencies involved) should correspond
classification to type of incident
Austroads (2007e) identifies five typical incident types, ranging from type 1 (vehicle on
shoulder) to type 5 (major injury crash, hazardous materials and fires), with
corresponding five levels of response
Development of an incident The manual would include details of inter-agency protocols and standard procedures
response manual (e.g. contact & resources information, communication process and diversion warrants &
plans)
Integrated incident The services are provided by a combination of incident response units (multi-purpose
response services vehicles with safety equipment and traffic control devices), maintenance crews and
towing & clean-up services
Real-time traffic condition Provision of camera vision to emergency services to support decision making for an
information appropriate response as well as site access and investigation
Table A 6 presents techniques for managing on-scene traffic and traveller information. With an aim to
minimise traffic disruption and safeguard responder safety, traffic management is the application of traffic
control devices at the incident scene. Traveller information is the activation of various means of
communications to relay incident related traffic conditions to travellers.
Table A 6: Techniques for traffic management and traveller information
Purpose Technique
Improve traffic flow past the incident Active traffic control at the scene
Manage road space (e.g. lane opening and closure)
Improve traffic flow on alternate routes Actively manage traffic control devices (including traffic
signals)
Designate, develop and operate alternate routes
Disseminate incident-related information to affected Telephone information systems
users
Commercial radio broadcasts
Variable message signs (VMS)
Internet and on-line services
A.1.6 Remarks on Incident Management in 2007
The evolution of the TIM understanding until 2007 can be observed through the changes in the incident
management process and key elements in Figure A 2, Figure A 4, Figure A 5 and Figure A 6. The
incorporation of time in the traffic management practices as displayed in Figure A 4 and Figure A 6 reflect not
only an emphasis of reducing the amount of time (delay) occurring at each TIM stage but also the
importance of travel time reliability (or reducing the variability) given that incidents are the dominant cause of
variability in traffic conditions. Other observations are:
• An additional management activity of planning, evaluation and performance monitoring as shown in
Figure A 5 in the process indicate a trend towards a more holistic, integrated approach to TIM.
• Unlike the TIM sequence presented in Figure A 2 and Figure A 5 where the ‘notify’ or ‘motorist
information’ activity follows the ‘response’ step, the potentially affected road users should be notified
about an incident immediately after ‘verification’ is complete as illustrated in the best-practice TIM timeline
in Figure A 6.

• Terminology change from ‘motorist’ to ‘traveller’ in the TIM process recognises a wider audience for
incident-related information dissemination.
• The identification of ‘incident duration’ and its subdivision into the predefined stages from ‘detection &
verification’ through to ‘clearance’ and ‘recovery’ in Figure A 6 support performance measurement and
improvement with corresponding performance indicators such as total incident duration and clearance
time.
A number of relevant incident management techniques at various planning and implementation stages are
documented in Table A 1, Table A 4 and Table A 6. As a body of existing knowledge in TIM, these
techniques will provide a fundamental basis of identifying contemporary leading practices and for developing
the traffic incident management framework.

Appendix B List of Policy and Practice

Documentation from Each
Jurisdiction
New South Wales
• Barton, M 2016, Incident Response Guide, TMC, Transport for New South Wales, Chippendale NSW.
• NSW Government 2010, Memorandum of Understanding: Management of Road and Traffic Incidents,
NSW.
• RTA 2008, Management of Unplanned road-related Incidents (Country Regional Environments), ILC-
RSTM-TP0-002, RTA, NSW.
• TMC 2016, Policy – Use of Vehicle Tracking Device for the Deployment of Field Resources, TMC-POL-
402032, TMC, Transport for New South Wales, Chippendale NSW.
• TMC 2015, Policy for Escalation of Incidents within the CBD and Approaches, TMC-POL-402030, TMC,
Transport for New South Wales, Chippendale NSW.
• TMC 2015, Policy for using VSLS, TMC-POL-402011, TMC, Transport for New South Wales,
Chippendale NSW.
• TMC 2015, Procedure – Operational Management of Road Works, TMC-SOP-502049, TMC, Transport
for New South Wales, Chippendale NSW.
• TMC 2015, Procedure – Review and Approval of Traffic Management Plans for Road Works, TMC-SOP-
• TMC 2014, Policy – Communicating Changed Traffic and Transport Arrangements, TMC-POL-409001,
TMC, Transport for New South Wales, Chippendale NSW.
• TMC 2014, Policy – Management of Unplanned Traffic Incidents, TMC-POL-402015, TMC, Transport for
New South Wales, Chippendale NSW.
• TMC 2014, Procedure – Approval of Green Light Corridors, TMC-SOP-502036, TMC, Transport for New
South Wales, Chippendale NSW.
• TMC 2014, Procedure – Clearway (including special event) towing, TMC-SOP-502010, TMC, Transport
• TMC 2014, Procedure – Displaying Manual Messages on VMS (Unplanned Incidents), TMC-SOP-
• TMC 2014, Procedure – Management of Unplanned Traffic Incidents, TMC-SOP-502032, TMC, Transport
• TMC 2014, Procedure – Monitoring and posting to social media, TMC-SOP-509029, TMC, Transport for
• TMC 2014, Procedure – Monitoring and Switching off Live Traffic Web Images, TMC-SOP-509013, TMC,
• TMC 2014, Procedure – Snow and Ice conditions reporting, TMC-SOP-509006, TMC, Transport for New
South Wales, Chippendale NSW.
• TMC 2013, Policy – Integrating field devices into the RMS Incident Management System, TMC-POL-

• TMC 2013, Procedure – Recording Traffic Incident Messages on IVR 131 700, TMC-SOP-509024, TMC,
• TMC 2013, Radio Communications with TEP Crews, TMC-SOP-502024, TMC, Transport for New South
Wales, Chippendale NSW.
• TMC 2013, Removing Vehicles from Roads & Road-related Areas, TMC-SOP-502029, TMC, Transport
• TMC 2013, Use of Permanent VMS for Bushfire Management, TMC-POL-402023, TMC, Transport for
• TMC 2012, Contra Flow Traffic Management – F3 Freeway Procedure, TMC-SOP-502052, TMC,
• TMC 2012, Policy – Answering Calls to the TMC Transport Operations Room, TMC-POL-402007, TMC,
• TMC 2012, Policy for Using RMS Traffic Management CCTV Cameras, TMC-POL-402002, TMC,
• TMC 2012, RMS GRN & RMS SRN Channel Users, Backup Radio Procedure, TMC-SOP-506014, TMC,
• TMC 2011, Legislative Support for Traffic Commander Operations, TMC-POL-403006, TMC, Transport
• TMC 2011, Policy for activating the JOC for Major Incidents and State Emergencies, TMC-POL-406003,
TMC, Transport for New South Wales, Chippendale NSW.
• TMC 2011, VMS & VSLS Wet Weather Plan, TMC-SOP-506002, TMC, Transport for New South Wales,
Chippendale NSW.
• Transport for New South Wales n.d., Incident Management Introduction, Transport for New South Wales,
Chippendale NSW.
New Zealand
• Hall, A and Bruce, G 2014, OptaSense Performance Verification Report, 14-000096-PV, Wellington, New
Zealand.
• New Zealand Government 2014, The New Zealand Coordinated Incident Management System (CIMS),
2nd edition, Wellington, New Zealand.
• NZ Transport Agency 2011, How the NZ Transport Agency keeps you moving, ISBN 978-047837-1758
(print), Wellington, New Zealand.
Queensland
• Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads 2017, Road Operations Framework (Draft),
Brisbane, Qld.
• Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads 2015, Guide to Traffic Management – Part 9:
Traffic Operations, Department of Transport and main Roads, Brisbane, Qld.
• Queensland Government 2010, Strategic Alliance: Formalising Arrangements for an Ongoing
Cooperative Relationship, Brisbane, Qld.
South Australia
• n.a. n.d., Incident Management Process.
• n.a. n.d., Variable Speed Limit Incident Response Plans.

Victoria
• VicRoads n.d., Incident Response Service, Kew, Vic.
• Victoria Government n.d., Memorandum of Understanding for Road Clearance between Victoria Police
and VicRoads, Vic.
Western Australia
• Main Roads Western Australia 2015, Crisis & Incident Management Policy, Perth, WA.
• Main Roads Western Australia 2015, Incident Management Procedures, Traffic Operations Centre, Perth,
WA.
• Main Roads Western Australia 2013, Managed Freeways Technology Functional Requirements, 12/8007-
REQ-001, Perth, WA.
• Main Roads Western Australia 2013, Memorandum of Understanding in relation to Exchange of Western
Australia Police computer aided dispatch information, Perth, WA.
• Main Roads Western Australia 2006, Response to incidents on the Perth metropolitan major road
network, Perth, WA.
• Main Roads Western Australia n.d., Memorandum of Understanding in relation to provision of laser
scanner to reduce time taken to capture data at traffic incidents and reduce road closure times, Perth,
WA.

Appendix C Summary of Arrangements for Each Jurisdiction
Traffic Incident Management Practice

Jurisdictions
Multi-agency Collaboration Planning for TIM Traffic incident management Performance evaluation Capability development
New South Wales A formal agreement has been formulated with TMC has documented various procedures for Detection of incidents utilising numerous – In-house training available (Incident
the following agencies: incident management planning such as: technologies Management Introduction, TfNSW)
• Ambulance Service of NSW • Unplanned road-related incidents Verification includes gathering enough
• Department of Environment, Climate management [Country regional information from initial media report, Police
Change and Water environments] Liaison Officer, ICEMS, iSentry and CCTV.
• Clearway (including special event) towing TMC dispatches resources as applicable for
• Emergency Management NSW
verification.
• NSW Fire Brigades • Radio communications with TEP crews
Level of response guided by severity of
• NSW Police Force • Displaying manual messages on VMS incident and impact to network. Some of the
(unplanned incidents)
• NSW Rural Fire Service response actions are setting of VMS, VSLS
• Removing vehicles from roads & road- as priority, updating CTOC as required,
• NSW Emergency Service
related areas updating media, monitor and adjust SCATS
• Roads and Maritime Services NSW
• Management of unplanned traffic incidents as required.
• Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW)
• Approval of green light corridors Incident monitoring is completed by updating
media on situational changes, adjusting VMS
• Operational management of road works
messages as required and SMS updates, for
• VMS & VSLS wet weather plan example.
• Message placement on M4 or M1 travel Incident clearance is achieved when
time VMS responders have departed the scene and
• Snow and ice conditions reporting traffic flow has returned to normal. After that
• Monitoring and switching off live traffic web updating key personnel and SMS appropriate
images staff has been completed.
• Recording traffic incident messages on IVR
131 700
• Monitoring and posting to social media
New Zealand Through the CIMS, a multi-agency agreement – A debrief is organised with all parties involved – CIMS is an element of emergency
has been formulated. The agreement includes to manage a major incident management doctrine that agencies use to
the following agencies: Road sensors, CCTV, radio communications manage incidents (New Zealand Government,
• Ambulance New Zealand (St John; and phone calls are used to identify and verify 2014). It is an iterative process. At the outset,
Wellington Free Ambulance) an incident. doctrine guides an agency’s actions in
support of their objectives and it informs
• Civil Defence Emergency Management VMS and radio communications are used to
inform road users about incidents. training, ensuring that the correct material and
Groups collectively represented
content is taught. Training then lays the
• Department of Conservation foundation for effective response operations.
• Department of the Prime Minister and Finally, lessons learned from operations are
Cabinet used to amend and update doctrine.
• Maritime New Zealand
• Ministry for Primary Industries
• Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency
Management
• Ministry of Health
• Ministry of Social Development
• National Rural Fire Authority
• New Zealand Customs Service
• New Zealand Defence Force
• New Zealand Fire Service
• New Zealand Police

Traffic Incident Management Practice

Jurisdictions
Multi-agency Collaboration Planning for TIM Traffic incident management Performance evaluation Capability development
Queensland A formal agreement has been formulated with Across the State, each district has procedures TMR is responsible for traffic management. Road System Operations branch is Training and qualification requirements for
the following agencies: to manage the road network. These are Detailed traffic management guideline is responsible for reviewing ‘Open Road’ policy. officers other than within defined Traffic
• Queensland Department of Transport and based on a standard approach in the Book of provided in TMR Traffic and Road Use Consistent joint approach has been followed Incident Management Service (TIMS) roles
Main Roads (TMR) Knowledge. Management Supplement (2015). by all agencies to review overall incident are at the discretion of the region. Each
TMR is also responsible for providing the management performance. region is responsible for ensuring that officers
• Queensland Police Service
traffic control plans based on operating speed Agencies have jointly determined appropriate performing TIMS are adequately trained to
• Queensland Department of Community undertake the tasks required of them in a safe
of road segment, road geometry and position key performance indicator benchmarks and
Safety of incident on the network. manner. Officers providing TIMS should aim
reporting parameters.
• Queensland Fire and Emergency Services to meet a similar level of training and
Each regional Traffic Incident Management qualifications as outlined in these guidelines.
• Queensland Ambulance Service Coordination Groups will conduct an annual
• Local Governments inter-agency desk top exercise, the objective Regular desktop exercise (half-yearly) are
of which will be to practice inter-agency traffic conducted at various levels to practice
incident management co-ordination. interagency coordination.
South Australia – Incident response plans are grouped on the In general, day-to-day traffic operation Addinsight is used to measure the network –
basis of the blocked lanes in any link. techniques can be used for TIM impact of the incident. In situations where it
Variable speed limit incident response plan is Addinsight is used to broadcast incident was caused by service authorities doing
available. information to motorists, to display travel roadworks at inappropriate times, DPTI often
times on VMS where available and the sends them the delay impact of their works on
information is published in real time to public the surrounding network.
data feeds.
Western Australia A formal agreement has been formulated with MRWA is responsible in preparing emergency Contingency Traffic Management Plans MRWA’s Crisis and Incident Management All staff responsible for incident management
the following agencies: plans, Business Continuity Plans and Traffic (CTMP) are developed for critical road assets (CIM) team is responsible to conduct a formal receive training apposite to their position. This
• Hazard Management Agency Management Plans. These plans are to be (i.e., bridges, overpass, and signals) and audit every two years. In this audit, training includes:
recorded in TRIM and WebEOC and reviewed when risk assessment is possible. It contains documentation of CIM at all levels, CIM Risk • Introduction to AIIMS.
• Controlling Agency
or revised according to the revision period. pre-determined actions. Management, training standard and the
• WA Police • Emergency Management Policy and
For a specific incident, which cannot be procedures for unceasing improvement and
Legislation.
• MRWA’s IRS identified in advance by a risk assessment, incident debriefs are evaluated.
• WebEOC User Training.
• State Emergency Coordinator Incident Management Team (IMT) prepare The Crisis and Emergency Management
the traffic Management at the time. The plans Manager (CEMM) has the discretion to • MRWA On Scene Traffic Controllers
• Department of Child Protection and Family
are to be implemented within a response time choose to conduct a post incident analysis of (OSTC) – for selected staff.
Support
of 1 hour, excluding the travel time. any major incident. Moreover, different skills training like First Aid
• Department of Health
3D laser are used to reduce time taken to and Traffic Controller Accreditation are also
• Local Government capture data at traffic incidents and reduce provided for selected staff.
road closure times.
WAPOL shares real-time CAD information
with MRWA to reduce congestion due to an
incident.
Victoria A formal agreement has been formulated with – TMC has the responsibility in identifying the VicRoads organises and conducts one –
the following agencies: incidents. workshop per year with Victoria Police to
• VicRoads examine, discuss and confirm the
arrangements agreed to in the MoU, and to
• Victoria Police
reinforce the understanding of each agency’s
roles and responsibilities.
Other Jurisdictions – – In general, day-to-day traffic operation – –
techniques can be used for TIM.

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Techniques for Incident Management to Support Network Operations

Technical Report · July 2017

ANZ 30 km/h Speed Limits View project

Austroads RTM View project

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Techniques for Incident Management to

Dr Aut Karndacharuk and Asif Hassan Austroads Ltd.

Abstract About Austroads

To assist in the establishment of a harmonised TIM methodology across Australasia, an incident

Austroads 2017 | page i

Austroads 2017 | page ii

Austroads Project NS1017 ............................................................................................. 30

Austroads 2017 | page iii

The key objectives of the project were to:

The organisation of this report is as follows:

Austroads 2017 | page 1

2.1 Baseline Traffic Incident Management Techniques

2.1.1 In-road Sensors

In-road sensors include:

2.1.2 Over-road Sensors

Over-road sensors include:

Austroads 2017 | page 2

2.1.3 Video Camera System

2.1.4 In-vehicle Sensors

2.2 Emerging Traffic Incident Management Techniques

Austroads 2017 | page 3

2.2.1 Smartphones and Global Navigation Satellite Systems

Austroads 2017 | page 4

2.2.2 Cooperative-ITS and Dedicated Short Range Communications

Cooperative-ITS (C-ITS) involves specialised vehicle-to-vehicle/infrastructure communications (V2X, vehicle

Austroads 2017 | page 5

2.2.3 Social Media, Participatory Sensing and Crowdsourcing

2.2.4 Drones for Traffic Data and Incident Management

2.3 Discussion and Summary Matrix

Austroads 2017 | page 6

Austroads 2017 | page 7

Practice Traffic Incident Management Step Note

Austroads 2017 | page 8

3. Current Practices in Australia and New

3.1 New South Wales

Source: Transport for New South Wales (2016).

Austroads 2017 | page 9

3.2 New Zealand

Austroads 2017 | page 10

3.4 South Australia

Austroads 2017 | page 11

3.6 Western Australia

3.7 Other Jurisdictions

Austroads 2017 | page 12

4. Contemporary Leading Practices in

4.1 Multi-agency Collaboration within Each Jurisdiction

4.2 Planning for Traffic Incident Management

Austroads 2017 | page 13

4.3 Traffic Incident Management

4.3.1 Incident Detection and Verification

4.3.2 Response to Traffic Incidents

Austroads 2017 | page 14

Table 4.1: Incident types and classification

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Source: Austroads (2007e).

4.3.3 Traffic Management

Austroads 2017 | page 15