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Transit Tangents
The Podcast where we discuss all things transit. Join us as we dive into transit systems across the US, bring you interviews with experts and advocates, and engage in some fun and exciting challenges along the way.
Transit Tangents
Behind the Scenes: Traffic Management Centers
The traffic management centers across the United States are mission control for our highway systems, working 24/7 to detect incidents and coordinate emergency responses to keep traffic flowing.
• Behind-the-scenes look at a Traffic Management Center (TMC) that monitors interstate highways with 300+ cameras
• Overview of how TMCs detect traffic incidents using radar and probe-based data from cell phones
• Insight into the emergency response process when incidents are identified
• Discussion of technology innovations like JAWS (Julie's Automated Waste Removal System) that uses snowplows to clear debris safely
• Explanation of how TMCs coordinate with multiple agencies for weather events and major gatherings
• Details on how Waze reports are automatically integrated into DOT maintenance systems
• Discussion of connected vehicle technology that alerts drivers to emergency vehicles ahead
• Ride-along experience with an emergency responder assisting stranded motorists
Doors are closing.
Speaker 2:Public transit that's my way to roll On the metro. I'm taking control my stop's train tracks, it's my daily grind. Public transit, it's the rhythm of my life.
Speaker 1:On this episode of Transit Tangents, we get an exclusive look behind the scenes at how departments of transportation manage traffic on the highway system. We'll take you inside a traffic management center and on a ride along with an emergency responder to learn how they keep traffic moving.
Speaker 3:Can you tell us what is happening behind us? There are a ton of screens and all kinds of things going on Sure.
Speaker 4:All right. So yeah, this is the heart and soul of our operations. This is a Traffic Management Center, Kind of staggered like NASA, right, but yeah, so right, here is going to be our video wall. We're kind of I like to say we're a proactive TMC, so we're constantly looking for incidents in the metro and one of the resources we use and tools is going to be our video wall going to be our video wall.
Speaker 1:This week we talk about our recent visit to the Traffic Management Center in Kansas City. Traffic Management Centers, or TMCs like this, are all across the United States helping to keep interstate highways moving. We got a sneak peek behind the scenes to learn how this TMC operates, as well as to go on a ride along with a Missouri DOT emergency responder. To start us off, kelly Alvarez, the KC Scout Traffic System Supervisor, shows us a few of the ways that this TMC detects potential incidents in their service area.
Speaker 4:Kind of an overview, kind of start with. Something that is probably going to be familiar with is going to be vehicle detection. So anywhere it's green, it's traffic's flowing. If it's white, it's our radar is out at that location.
Speaker 1:So does it do it based on speed like radar speeds, then?
Speaker 4:that location. So does it do it based on speed, like radar speeds then? Okay, so well, I guess it's kind of a combination. So on the Missouri, in the metro, here it's going to be radar, but as you get outside, depending on which side of the state you're on, it could transition to probe-based data. So our Northland is going to be probe-ase data, and then all the routes, the rural routes that stretch out on I-70, there 3529, that's going to be probase vehicle detection.
Speaker 1:When you say probase as a non-industry person, what is it?
Speaker 4:So it's like cell phone data.
Speaker 1:Gotcha, okay. So similar to what Google Maps or something would be using. Yes, okay, okay.
Speaker 4:So similar to like what Google Maps or?
Speaker 1:something would be using. Okay, cool.
Speaker 4:Looking at the actual icons on the camera. So we track road work, so that's a pretty good indicator right there. And then for us, all of our cameras are going to be all these green dots. So every little icon like this is going to be a camera. So, again, highly concentrated on the metro dots. So every little icon like this is going to be a camera. So, again, highly concentrated on the metro. We have about 300 cameras there and then we do corridor management. So after you get outside the KC metro you'll see cameras that turn over from green and go to blue and those are cameras that belong to DOT. So we manage those and borrow those traffic cameras on those routes. So while those aren't Casey Scout devices, we have access to them through DOT to provide traffic incident management on those routes for the DOTs.
Speaker 1:So folks who are working in here right now essentially are watching these cameras, watching what's happening on these screens. If they see red, start to pop up, investigating further to see what it is Correct and then if you need to dispatch, then you dispatch whatever needs to go there. Yep, we'll go back inside the TMC again soon, but first we asked Kelly and Marcus, who is the KC Scout Incident Management Coordinator, to walk us through what happens next once an incident has been identified.
Speaker 4:Once we know of an incident, an operator will immediately classify what an incident is. It will just go like a crash. So if it's a crash, how many vehicles are involved, how many lanes are blocked so quickly, within a couple, within, I would say, less than 30 seconds? They are putting it into our system and making those determinations, because what they put into our system automatically puts, reflects on the board. So our boards are tailored to what's input into our system. So for us it's like the location it's going to be, the lanes blocked, and then what type of incident it is, and that information, within a few clicks of our system it gets automatically posted on those message boards and then the real work kind of starts to begin at that point because then at that point, once we had it in our system, it's like how do you manage that?
Speaker 4:What's the appropriate response? And then that kind of, we start pulling Marcus's team in at that point on if it needs it.
Speaker 5:Go to resources and, like she said, and all of that's just in the detection. Now we need to. Who do we need to notify who's on scene, who needs to go. That process then occurs and luckily, having so many trucks, as you said, just proactively patrolling, they're usually pretty close so we can get there in a reasonable amount of time. And then we give a windshield report, initially when we get there and then every 15 minutes or so, as things change, we call back into the TMC to ensure that the right personnel got there, if we need different people there or if they left or someone else has come on scene.
Speaker 1:So very fluid, yeah. And when you say boards, is that like an internal? That's like internally sharing the data amongst teams here and then inside? We were talking about, too, too, how that data then gets shared out externally as well. Can you talk about that process?
Speaker 4:as well. So I mean, the first thing is going to be those message boards on the side of the highway, but I mean we push out information in other ways. So it's going to be everything from. We have an app that pushes out that information, waze gets that information and puts it out through their platform, we have a website, and then again, if it's a big enough incident, then it may need some internal coordination and notification. So we're required to put that information out internally and let our partners know what's going on as well.
Speaker 5:And that's when we work closely with like OGL. An incident occurs on the interstate and you have to force them all and now the ramps are overloaded. The signals you know you have to adjust the timing. Having them in the building is very handy. Her and her staff can drop them a note and say, hey, have you guys noticed this? And they're like we're on it. Now let's adjust some signal timing to try to alleviate some of that traffic, can you?
Speaker 1:OGL just for the. Operation Greenlight you all live in a land of three-letter acronyms, the.
Speaker 5:DOTs. Yeah, so many acronyms, but yes, operation Greenlight, it's.
Speaker 3:Operation Greenlight. There, like you said, they're kind of helping manage signals and adding signal priority where it's needed to help manage the traffic flow.
Speaker 1:So, as an example, if there's an accident backing up a highway ramp, that traffic is backing up onto the highway, they can then essentially go in and manually say we need to give the highway more green lights for folks to get off to clear the area.
Speaker 5:Exactly. That's pretty cool that that technology is there and that you all are able to coordinate. I tell you, law enforcement loves it. Years ago they'd have to go to a signal cabinet and actually manually do it or flat Stand in the road Right. So now it's a lot safer and you don't necessarily need that personnel right there at the box. They can be on scene at that incident trying to get the road back open.
Speaker 4:If we have an incident and the way we have our incidents tracked so this is going to be an incident right here, a crash, so an emergency vehicle and then a stall. So if I bring up the camera and just click, it brings up the camera and then this camera is not being used for that incident.
Speaker 3:so probably not a really good example, but we're not hoping for it, but if it's there, Well, here's maybe one Report of debris in the roadway.
Speaker 4:Oh, there he is.
Speaker 5:So it is debris. He's using a plow. Knock it off to the left shoulder.
Speaker 1:You just heard Marcus mention that the responding truck to this incident was using a plow to push debris to the side of the road. Later in our conversation he elaborated a bit more on this. What are some of the big technological changes that you've seen doing this?
Speaker 5:I would say I mean you've got a whole thing with your ER program that's been changed and updated. Man. I tell you what it's a moving target. I will say that what we do realize is that those tried and proven methods, man, they're all reliable, right. However, man technology, from my standpoint, allows us to not only be more efficient, but safe. Fortunate enough, back in 2016 or so, I was challenged with how do I keep my people from having to run across the highway and pick up debris? You watched the camera earlier. Had a snowplow on it. Ain't snowing today.
Speaker 5:I bought a snowplow and people were like you're crazy You're running a snowplow during the day. Well, once I saw the results and how often we used it, I was lucky enough to come up with an idea Jaws. We named it after an employee that had been hit and killed while moving debris back in 2004, julie's Automated Waste Removal System. Now I tell you what. Not often do you get the opportunity to build something and be the brains behind it, but I was truly blessed in that, because I came in one night while I was figuring it and I had one of my operators disappear on camera and I was like I got to do something. I got to do it now, so we pushed that out and since putting that out on the streets in 2016, 2017, you now have lane debris items like that. Well, there are different companies now making things to keep our people from having to walk and pick up debris.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's amazing, because I mean it is any time of the day that's so dangerous. I mean cars are going way faster than posted speed limits oftentimes, and how many times have you looked at a vehicle like man?
Speaker 5:they need to tie that down.
Speaker 1:You know something's loose and I tell you we're honored and we're blessed that it originated here. As part of our visit, we also had a chance to do a ride along with an emergency responder who is dispatched from this TMC to get a feel for what it's like patrolling on the interstates.
Speaker 2:All right, my name is Torrey Kennedy. I am an emergency responder for the state of Missouri Department of Transportation. I've been here 10 years and what I normally do throughout the day is I just assist motorists on the highway and the interstate major interstates.
Speaker 1:So as we were driving down the highway on the opposite side, we saw this car pulled over, so we turned around at the next exit and now we're seeing well, we're not seeing, but Tori is seeing what's going on.
Speaker 2:Hey how you guys doing Need some help. This lady's going to need a tow, so I'm gonna give her a tow list. She doesn't have a tow, so I'm gonna help her out with a tow list, All right.
Speaker 1:Not long after our first incident, we ran into another. This time a man with a pickup truck and a trailer were off in the shoulder pickup truck and a trailer were off in the trailer.
Speaker 2:Oh, they didn't tow it. They wouldn't tow it. So you gotta ask somebody and I ain't about to be my trailer, so you gotta ask somebody to come and get the trailer. They're on the way.
Speaker 1:It's a little hard to hear exactly what's going on on the side of the highway, but all in all, in just an hour or two we responded to three incidents on the side of the road. In two cases we just provided information to drivers for tow trucks, and in one we actually gave the driver a ride to a nearby gas station. It was a slower time of the day, but now that you have an idea of what it's like going out on the road, let's jump back into our conversation with Marcus and Kelly.
Speaker 3:To be honest, before coming here I didn't know a lot about Kansas City, but I was aware that Kansas City is no stranger to big events. I mean, it is a sports town. Maybe we don't talk about the Super Bowl right now.
Speaker 3:But it is a sports town. There's a lot of people here, a lot of events happening. You have World Cup coming up, but also you're in a part of the country where you have severe weather events, whether it's tornado, snow, extreme rain events, kind of. How does all that coordination really work together? What challenges do you have when you have these big events and these big disruptions?
Speaker 4:Oh man, I think it's a lot to do with you know, trying to.
Speaker 4:It's the planning that goes into it.
Speaker 4:So if you're fortunate I mean if we're fortunate enough to know that the system's coming through because we partner with the National Weather Service it's trying to mitigate it before it happens, right. So we'll work with the National Weather Service to post weather messages, like pre-storm messaging, saying hey, a storm's coming, limit travel or rethink your plans, plan ahead, sort of thing. So we'll proactively start putting those messages up saying there's a storm event moving in the metro on this particular day, plan your trip or avoid travel on these days. And then for us it's like a I mean, we'll use a winter like a winter event, like in January we had that with a really good. It might be a really good example. But so we had a storm coming through our system. It was pretty significant. National Weather Service was calling for ice and snow. So at that point in time we coordinate with our partners. So again, talking about the National Weather Service putting those messages up, warning the traveling public, and then kind of getting our maintenance crews Well, it's not our maintenance crews but Modon.
Speaker 4:KDOT's maintenance crews start prepping for that and there's coordination meetings on what's the game plan there in the state level and so forth. So that's kind of pre-planning. And in Kansas, on the Kansas side, Kansas Highway Patrol practically removes vehicles from the shoulder, so they'll start towing vehicles to allow those crews out in that area to work the shoulders during the event. So in addition to the weather messaging that we're posting, we're also learning the public on the Kansas side hey, your vehicle is going to be towed if it's abandoned. So we've got those messages running as well.
Speaker 5:And it's systematic, right? You talk about first getting the alert from the National Weather Service, right, and we get those right, and so we start looking at it. Whether it's through SEMA on the Missouri side or the National Weather Service on the Kansas side, we get that information, we push it out to the DOTs and, as much as they don't necessarily work for us, they definitely are looking at us. Hey, because they need our information to ensure that their traveler maps are updated. Right, because we're out there 24-7, 365. Not only do we report, but their maintenance staff actually does the same thing. So it's an information highway. It's actually going back and forth, back and forth.
Speaker 5:A lot of pre-planning goes into it as it relates to who to notify, when to notify. We have long lists that we proactively go down. Okay, it's time to notify this person or that person, because we're now seeing this. So it actually works pretty good. Missouri benefits more from the weather because everything typically goes from west to east, right, but then, as it relates to a lot of the tornadic activity, for some odd reason it doesn't matter, right, it can be on either side of the state line. So, by having those open lines of communication just on a regular sunny day like this, because those avenues are open right now. We just plug into them a lot more so we can push that information out on whether it's safe to be out, what routes are affected and vice versa.
Speaker 3:Yeah, what do you do for large events where you know there's gonna be a lot of people in the region? So, like, what does kind of prep look like for that? I think of the World Cup coming up, you're probably going to have a lot more people. I don't know if you know the projections for how many people are going to be in town. But I know it's going to be a lot.
Speaker 5:It's a moving target. Right, Because they haven't decided who all is playing in what particular area. But again, we have so many different forums or task force on both sides of the state line, so we're plugged in with just about every state and or municipality. In Kansas state agency or municipality Super Bowl parades, the coordination starts relatively early. Right, it's usually spearheaded by law enforcement, but that's because they've got the nudge from the mayor's office or things like that. We get plugged into those meetings extremely early and we start discussing how the influx of people in a particular area could affect mobility. Right, Definitely don't want them parking on highways or crossing highways, but you'd be surprised what people will try to do if you let them.
Speaker 3:Oh, I'm not that surprised.
Speaker 5:So we have those target areas where we know we're going to get a lot of folks, whether it's egress, vice versa. So we definitely keep players in the area so that we can keep traffic free flowing. But again, those coordination meetings, we have them weekly, if not monthly already. So when the big events come, we just rely heavily on those work groups or those talk groups.
Speaker 1:And it seems like, yeah, it's just there are a lot of players in play. Like communication is so important with all of it, so that you know the highways can stay, you know, as free flowing as possible, Coordinating with the traffic lights and intersections in areas where they are I'm sure they're playing with signal timing and whatnot. If there's a big event and everyone's coming in at one time, coming out at the other, working with law enforcement on the ground in case there's a crash, having your teams ready to be deployed. Over-communicating is probably like a really important process in the whole thing of like planning for any little thing that could you go early and often yeah, like the running game, right I mean, and it's I mean because having a team that's been fortunate enough to be pretty popular.
Speaker 5:Now, man, we've always had an influx in the last 10 years or so, so so it's definitely good planning and preparation, as you said, with FIFA coming up. What happens now is that arch is now a little bit broader, right, because we don't know how many people the conversations that we typically have with Missouri staff we're now having with Kansas staff, and what we're doing we're not siloing it, we're bringing both sides together. So I think through these special events it just makes our efficiency and traffic management so much better, because now we're preparing or we're planning for these. And if we're planning for a big event, why can't we do it every day?
Speaker 3:right, yeah, yeah, that's cool and I'm excited for this episode too, because I think a lot of people and I mentioned this in the room earlier I think a lot of people don't realize how much work is going into protecting the highways, making sure that traffic is free-flowing, making sure that you're safe on the roadway, big events like this, big weather events, all this coordination. So the work you guys do here is incredibly important. I think more people really should be aware of the amount of effort and care that goes into, you know, keeping these systems going.
Speaker 5:Yeah, it doesn't Like you say, on that day, everybody remembers that day, but, man, it could be months, if not years, of preparation. And I think the training that we do, especially as it relates to traffic incident management, we don't just train the DOTs, right, we have to train law enforcement fire TORs, ems. We have to train law enforcement fire towers, ems. I mean we even train or invite the ME's office, right? You're thinking, why do they need to know? Well, they need to be able to get to the scene so we can get roads open, unfortunately, when fatalities do occur. So the media, we invite them to our traffic incident management classes. Anybody and everybody that's a player on the road we invite in so that it's not something new. The day of right.
Speaker 1:What are some of the big technological changes that you've seen doing this?
Speaker 5:As I told you with cell phones, right, distracted driving we hate it, but if you can't beat them, you have to figure out how to join them and do it safely. So what we did was we started putting the highest transponders in our MAV trucks and our ER trucks. And what's that do? If you have that phone or you have a platform in your vehicle, it alerts you with an audible tone or a message that says emergency vehicles ahead. To me a game changer, right, say, you're coming to the top of a hill and there's an incident on the other side, but now you know about it and maybe you knew about it four miles down the road.
Speaker 5:That type of technology, to me, is a game changer as far as the data and the collection of it in here. A lot of that's more behind the scenes. Right, we have bigger screens, we have curved monitors, but our cameras are better Pantel zooms and things like that. We're trying to have the best system we possibly can to help our operators actually pinpoint and spot those things out there. Now, I'm sure there's some more things that have happened. I'm a boots on the ground kind of guy, so I spend a lot of time out there trying to proactively find ways. But I rely on Kelly and her group to give me that more robust data in here, because they're my eyes. A lot of places I go. I can't see my operators but they can Right. So it's, we love it. We want cameras everywhere.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think from just the TMC perspective. You know, like that, you talked about Haas and and, and I've talked about Waze and I think one of the things that recently has come out a huge partnership with that is is pothole reporting. So that's, that's something that we've automated in our background, so we get those Waze reports and then potholes is one of them. So that's been a technology, that's been a pretty cool innovation that's come out so that's literally people.
Speaker 1:if you're using Waze on your phone and you report a pothole on your drive, it is getting sent somewhere. Yeah, so yeah yeah.
Speaker 2:It is now I love it yeah.
Speaker 4:So, yeah, if you do that, it doesn't hit my team, but it hits our infrastructure. And we take that information and we share it with the DOTs, so it gets delivered into MoDOT's customer service. They put it into this, it's automated. So it's not even they put it into it, they're aware of it, and then it just gets populated into MoDOT's system so maintenance can respond quickly and efficiently. Very cool.
Speaker 3:And I assume these are probably older technologies, but I think a lot of people don't realize. You have radar on the roadway that's monitoring the traffic flow. You have the cameras that are looking out. Are there new technologies sort of on the horizon that you've sort of demoed or that you're looking into adding into the system, whether it's anything with AI or automated incident detection, anything like that?
Speaker 4:I think that there's a desire to, but we're really kind of at the helm of DOT, so it's kind of right now. I think it's a shiny new concept and you can take it a lot of ways. But I think DOT at least for the Kansas and Missouri DOT it's kind of like waiting and formulating and basing policy. So put the policy first and then start engaging in AI application. So I think at this time there's not really much movement because I think they're taking a conservative approach to make sure that all their bases are covered in the system and our network is set up for it, right.
Speaker 1:And in a world where, I mean, a big takeaway in this conversation for me has been communication and communication between agencies and the people in these agencies and whatnot, I think that there's probably a role to play for AI, but the human element of this I mean dispatching actual drivers and like hey, I saw this on the camera, keep an eye out for it. There is a world where AI maybe plays a role in that in the future, but it also seems like there could be a good risk in rolling something like that out too soon. Oh yeah, from your all's perspective, is there anything that we're missing that you think is really interesting or something that you would want to share? I mean, you know more than we do.
Speaker 5:You guys have hit pretty much everything. I think our uniqueness here with KC Scout is just the fact that it's by state right. What it teaches you is what you touched on a lot about communication. You have to be able to communicate effectively with individuals that don't necessarily work for you, right? So the power of persuasion, the power of reason and being able to have data or information that you can actually show them that says, hey, this is why this may be a good idea, that's why I lean so heavily the truck mounted attenuators, the TMA trucks that are following that pothole operation or sweeping, or whatever the case may be.
Speaker 5:I can pull numbers and see where maybe we're having a lot of hits or we're having a lot of close calls and I can present that to either DOT. Right, there's just so much that you can use the technology for. I'm more of a safety guy, more of an efficiency guy. They go hand in hand. You know, I always use a. There's a NASCAR analogy in the trainings that we do and we talk about how slow it was back in 1960s and 70s and how fast it is now. And why is it? Well, because of technology and because of training. So we do that early and we do it often right. We do a lot of training and we try to find out what technology is out there, and then we kind of push the rock uphill, so to speak, and push it out so that others can look at it and see if it's something that we could benefit from, if it helps move the needle and makes things safer.
Speaker 3:Huge thanks to the Missouri Department of Transportation. Huge thanks to KC Scout and to Kelly and Marcus and to Tori for driving us around.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was pretty awesome to be able to get the full picture of what it looks like inside the facility, how the calls are reported, and then actually being able to go out and ride and do a ride along and see what the response is like.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's really cool. It's a great service that I don't think a lot of people realize is out there. But you know, whenever you are stranded on the side of the road and you need help, it's really cool to see what services are available.
Speaker 1:And now you know where the end of all of the traffic cameras everywhere end. They all end here.
Speaker 3:They all end right here, right here outside of Kansas City, Missouri.
Speaker 1:Yeah, big thanks to everyone for the episode. Without further ado, we'll wrap it up. Thank you all so much for watching and enjoy the rest of your Transit.
Speaker 2:Tangents Tuesday and enjoy the rest of your Transit Tangents Tuesday.
Speaker 1:Bonus is that it's actually Tuesday right now. Oh yeah.