Marketing Outside the Highway Safety Arena: A Case Study (Iowa's ERIS project) Reginald R. Souleyrette, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Iowa State University

Marketing Outside the Highway Safety Arena: A Case Study

(Iowa's ERIS project)

Reginald R. Souleyrette, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Iowa State University

Joyce Emery, Ph.D., Co-Chair, Iowa Statewide Traffic Records Advisory Committee, Iowa DOT

2002 Traffic Records Forum, Session 1: Marketing

DRAFT! All preliminary information opinion of the author’s ONLY!

Objectives

• Define/demonstrate ERIS

• History of development and sponsorship

• Original purpose

• Post-9/11 opportunity

• Current efforts, recommendations and discussion


What is ERIS

• Emergency Response Information System• GIS-based information on services

• Fire, EMS, Rescue• Service boundaries

• Other useful information• Crash data, socioeconomic/demographic• Roads, rivers, political jurisdictions

• Assessment and planning tool• 20 county pilot (those expecting major highway

construction during next 5 years)


Need for ERIS

• Approx. 1,118 emergency response departments (not including proprietary and industrial services)

• 47% offer fire, medical and rescue response• 23% offer fire/rescue only• 21% offer medical only

• 99% of emergency response provided by local agencies

*Based on Fall 2001 data collected from statewide sampling of FSTB and Bureau of EMS mailing lists


• 87% staffed by mainly volunteers• 60% of these services have budgets < $30,000• 75% of those departments serve areas with

populations < 5,000• To date, there is incomplete knowledge of

emergency response service areas and resource capacity for the entire state


History of Development

• Began under IOWA SMS• Conceived as solution to

planning/communications problems• One of 24 Iowa tools to increase crash

survivability• Oversight is with STRAC (subcommittee of

SMS in Iowa) … needs to move• Funding source: various state/federal (no 411 or

402)


Early Years

• 1997: SMS (DOT) recognizes need for enhancement of local and regional emergency response system capacity for timely response to highway crashes.

• 1998: Avenue of the Saints study (four county pilot) guided by an SMS Emergency ResponseTask Force

• 1998 ERIS conceived, task force spawns a smaller ERIS Task Force


Following on …

• 1999-2000: SMS (DOT), DPH, IDED expands ERIS to 20 counties.

• 2002: Completion of initial system.• Iowa SMS objective accomplished.

• Future• Homeland Security?


•Iowa DOT Office of Traffic and Safety•Department of Public Health•Dept. of Public Safety (GTSB, Iowa State Patrol)•ISU Extension•Local Law Enforcement

• Field data collection

• Contact information

• Attributes

• Service Area Boundaries

• Building Partnerships

• Database design

• Data entry

• GIS creation


ERIS Contents: 20 County Pilot

• Service data• General• Contact Info• Service Description• Availability• Communications• Personnel/buildings• Vehicle Info• Equipment Info

• Response area maps


ERIS Contents: Statewide

• Census

• Trauma care facilities

• Emergency management agencies

• Emergency response services contact info

• EMS level of certification (IDPH data)

• Hazardous material spill response areas

• State lands

• Roads, rivers, lakes, rails, etc


Look and Feel

• CD and prototype web app

• Data entry via paper or e-form (web soon)

• ArcExplorer and shape files (also works with ArcView and many other GISs)

• Microsoft Access database





Local Applications

• Strategic Planning tool

• Emergency route evaluation

• Response time optimization

• Incident command reorganization

• Equipment/vehicle placement

• Service sharing

• Boundary evaluation


Statewide Applications

• Statewide system evaluation tool

• Disaster planning

• Information dissemination

• Statewide planning for placement of vehicles and equipment

• Transportation planning

• Research and assessmentDRAFT! All preliminary information opinion of the author’s ONLY!

Funding

• SMS, 157, and half-percent funds were used for system design and data collection.

• 157, half-percent and some 411 funds were used GIS and database programming.


About the funding sources• SMS funds

• state funds allocated to SMS by Iowa DOT Planning Division.

• New money is requested and granted once a year, usually in May.

• SMS may take as long as it wishes to program and expend these funds.

• Therefore, there is a small funding pool available for immediate use, should the purpose be deemed critical by the SMS Coordination Committee.

• SMS tends to fund projects "falling between the cracks" and to fund pilot projects rather than implementation projects


About the funding sources

• 157 seat belt $• reward funds allocated to Iowa DOT via FHWA• provided early in each FFY.• not restricted by NHTSA/GTSB policies and procedures• once obligated, funds are good indefinitely• no group oversight• source of immediate funding for urgent projects• good source for those projects that you just can't explain

very well to someone outside the office! (typical for many data development projects)



• Half-percent (AKA Traffic Safety Improvement Funds) • Iowa state fund earmarked for safety• formal application process and application review board

of statewide membership• DOT Director and the Commission both must approve• large time lag of about 11 months • $500,000 max. from this fund is reserved for public

information, training, and "studies“• projects that make good PR belong here• funds remain good indefinitely



• 411 funds• TEA 21 traffic records funds

• guided by a strategic plan written by STRAC, and by STRAC approval

• one year only

• very restrictive

• best to have alternative funding for projects


Marketing

• Outside highway agencies … why?• limited funding

• off central mission

• SMS is broader, but not enough• Includes law enforcement, …


Active Stakeholders

• Iowa DOT (Office of Traffic and Safety)• Department of Public Health• Department of Public Safety (GTSB, ISP, FSTB,

Fire Marshal)• ISU Extension to Communities• Local Law Enforcement• Counties, Municipalities• Local Service Providers (EMS, Fire)


Interest by others …• Williams Pipeline

• Williams called state offices looking for fire service information and was told there is no state source

• The best there is, is the ERIS pilot program

• federal regulations require pipelines to have information on First Responders along the route

• Williams thought ERIS was ideal and wanted to support data gathering and do the GIS mapping

• Plan never materialized


Interest by others …

• Iowa Rural Water Association:• Rural Water companies need to enhance rural fire protection

• To do so they need the ERIS overlaid with their rural water system maps

• They would enhance the data related to water/fire connections

• Which rural water hydrants will fit the fire hose equipment and provide sufficient pressure?

• had plans to lobby the Legislature for funding to complete ERIS, but the state economy came into play


Other Potential Stakeholders

• Iowa Department of Natural Resources

• Emergency management agent

• Counties with EMS coordinators

• DPH: Six public health specialists (15 counties) – new counter bio-terrorism mission

• Emergency Management Division

• Senator Harkin’s Office and the Ag Bill – USDA???


Sustainability Issues• Development

• Pilot $ easiest• Full system development more difficult

• Maintenance most challenging• Ownership/champion(s)/institutional home• No mechanism for interdisciplinary, interagency

sponsorship

• Barriers• Turf, lobby, local driven, volunteer services, low budgets,

no state regulatory agency for fire/rescue, lack of mandate or legislation


Recommendations

• Build it, they will come

• Start small – show examples

• Assemble personally motivated team

• Seek sponsorship from agency with synergistic mission


For more information contact:

• Reg Souleyrette, ISU Center for Transportation Research and Education 515-294-5453 [email protected]

• Joyce Emery, Office of Traffic and Safety, Iowa DOT, 515-239-1016, [email protected]

• Kevin Triggs, ISU Center for Transportation Research and Education 515-294-5004 [email protected]


Documents

Marketing Outside the Highway Safety Arena: A Case Study (Iowa's ERIS project) Reginald R. Souleyrette, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Iowa State University