Winter of 2022 Is A Wake Up Call About More Frequent and Severe Weather Disruptors of Roadways

IBTTA Releases New Report on Lessons Learned For Emergency Management During Significant Events That Disrupt Operations

Winter of 2022 Is A Wake Up Call About More Frequent and Severe Weather Disruptors of Roadways 

In the first two months of 2022, four separate storms in Virginia, Kentucky, Texas, and Greece left dramatic impacts on many road users. These storms also illustrated how extreme weather events, including other severe weather and natural disasters, are increasingly disrupting typical operations and tolling facilities due to climate change.  

Considering these recent severe storms, IBTTA is releasing a new report that summarizes best practices and critical success factors in emergency management and response, based upon use cases and studies that highlight lessons learned from past events.   

The intent of the report is to provide a basic understanding of the processes and tools that enable our operator members and emergency management organizations to develop and implement a “playbook” for addressing significant weather events.  We know many toll operators are advancing organizational changes, new standards and procedures, and substantive workforce development and training, and we hope this report can support those efforts. 

“The industry has focused for several years on preparing and mitigating issues related to extreme weather events, not only snow, but also extreme flooding, wind, and other natural disasters,” says Mark Muriello, Director of Policy and Government Affairs for IBTTA. "However, we are reaching a crossroads where the events are going to become more extreme, disruptive, and dangerous. A coordinated effort will be needed across many organizations to mitigate against the worst effects of climate change on our roadways and to protect the safety of travelers and emergency response personnel.” 

The report identifies critical success factors that operators should address to improve their management, including:  

• Planning and readiness
• Continuous improvement and practice 
• Ongoing situational awareness 
• Robust and coordinated communications capabilities and channels 

The report also calls for a larger role for technology and data. Transportation information systems are becoming more prevalent at regional levels, allowing integration and information sharing among a broad set of transportation operators, public safety organizations, incident responders (e.g., fire, tow, and medical first response), and government agencies at all levels.  

“As weather patterns become more severe, we are experiencing what are called 100-year storms more frequently,” says Pat Jones, Executive Director & CEO of IBTTA. “The toll industry takes climate change seriously, and we’re working to help our operators prepare for and address these issues now.” 

Read the full report, Transportation Emergency Management for Significant and Extreme Events: Lessons Learned and Best Practices for Preparedness, Operations, Response, and Communications,  here.