more

Emergency Management
When emergency conditions arise such as hurricanes, floods, industrial explosions or terrorist attacks, the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at Houston TranStar is activated. Representatives from all four collaborating agencies—as well as such diverse entities as the U.S. Army, Salvation Army, Harris County Toll Road Authority, Amateur Radio Operator volunteers, the American Red Cross, and area local governments—come together to coordinate a quick, effective response. The Automated Flood Warning System, Doppler Radar Imagery, Satellite Weather Maps, Road Flood Warning Systems and the Regional Incident Management System (RIMS) comprise some of the tools used to address the emergency. more

Leveraging Resources
The benefit of having multiple agencies under one roof for pooling information and resources gives Houston TranStar partners an advantage over other agencies who work alone. Because of joint transportation projects, combined emergency response efforts and general day-to-day cooperative operations, TranStar enjoys a worldwide reputation for innovation and efficient use of resources.

Innovation
Houston TranStar was the first center in the nation to combine Transportation and Emergency Management centers, and the first to bring four agencies together under one roof. Houston TranStar’s web site, nationally and locally recognized for the breadth of information it offers the general public, allows subscribers to receive personalized travel time updates and incident warnings, as well as providing up-to-the-minute traffic and weather information.

In 2010, Houston TranStar pioneered the use of traffic monitoring using Anonymous Wireless Address Matching (AWAM). AWAM currently uses anonymous addresses from Bluetooth™ network devices to identify probes and calculate travel times and speeds on instrumented roadway segments. This innovation allows Houston TranStar to provide travel updates to drivers during daily commutes as well as in emergency evacuation situations.

Benefits

Houston TranStar’s benefits are well-documented and quantified by the Texas Transportation Institute, the transportation research arm of Texas A & M University.

TranStar’s transportation management activities have reduced the public’s travel times and fuel consumption (more than $2.2 billion saved since the program’s inception), and has lowered exhaust emissions (4,134 tons of hydrocarbons, 27,213 tons of carbon monoxide and 5,798 tons of nitrogen oxides).

In 2008, travel delays cost the region more than $557 million. However, by actively managing traffic incidents and providing travel information to the public, Houston TranStar offset travel delays in the region by more than 11.9 million vehicle hours, for a monetary benefit of $238 million. The reduced travel time lowered fuel consumption by 22.2 million gallons, for an additional savings of more than $70 million, or a total of $308 million in benefits to the region.

Emergency management activities and warnings have decreased the number of injuries, deaths, and extensive property damage caused by floods and other weather-related and/or man-made events. These benefits to the public are not quantifiable.

The annual cost to operate Houston TranStar is $27.1 million. Divided into TranStar’s annual benefit of $308 million, Houston TranStar’s benefit/cost ratio is 11.4. So for every $1 spent on Houston TranStar, the region realizes a benefit of $11.40.