Background and challenge
Our client needed to design and operate a Coordination Center for the city's transport and traffic operations during a major multi-day sport event. Public transport providers and traffic network managers were required to work in partnership for the first time, to exchange information and to collectively ensure smooth transport for hundreds of thousands daily purpose passengers, while preserving unimpeded city operations. As part of the model of operations and the detailed operating plans for the Center, it was required to develop contingency plans to be used in the event of transport related incidents that would require multi agency coordination.
Approach and recommendations
The starting point of our approach for the Center's contingency plans was the development of a long list of potential incidents related to the Center's operations and to the city's transport modes and road networks. More than 250 incidents were identified and classified in 25 contingency classes with respect to the location or the system affected.
Subsequently, the initial list of incidents underwent a two stage assessment (filtering) process in order to identify the top-ranked scenarios in terms of criticality, and to better prepare the stakeholders in addressing potential consequences.
In the first stage of the assessment process, we evaluated the long list of incidents with respect to their impact. The second stage of the assessment process focused on estimating for each incident i) the likelihood of occurrence and ii) severity of impact. Incident duration, impacted clients, size of population affected and spatial extent were used to assess the severity of impact. Incidents with a criticality above a certain threshold were included in the final list of the Center's contingency plans.
We also developed a standardized structure for all contingency plans that allowed to organize best the data and information to be included in each plan. Based on this template, we developed 23 contingency plans.
Subsequently, the initial list of incidents underwent a two stage assessment (filtering) process in order to identify the top-ranked scenarios in terms of criticality, and to better prepare the stakeholders in addressing potential consequences.
In the first stage of the assessment process, we evaluated the long list of incidents with respect to their impact. The second stage of the assessment process focused on estimating for each incident i) the likelihood of occurrence and ii) severity of impact. Incident duration, impacted clients, size of population affected and spatial extent were used to assess the severity of impact. Incidents with a criticality above a certain threshold were included in the final list of the Center's contingency plans.
We also developed a standardized structure for all contingency plans that allowed to organize best the data and information to be included in each plan. Based on this template, we developed 23 contingency plans.
Enabling the coordination of response to multi-agency transport incidents in a major metropolis
Impact
The contingency plans developed for the event specific Coordination Center provide a uniform approach that enabled the staff of the Center to familiarize quickly with i) the possible causes for failure in transport and traffic systems during the event, ii) the activities/ tasks to be implemented in case of an incident, iii) the players involved and their respective roles in incident resolution and iv) the affected parties that need to be readily informed as well as the key messages to be communicated to them. The center successfully delivered operations during the event and left a legacy of multiagency coordination in the metropolis.
