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Greetings TIM champions and friends,
With half of this year in the rearview, we reflect on what the future holds. We know traffic incident management (TIM) programs save the lives of road users, improve travel reliability and resiliency on roadways, and increase operational efficiencies for incident response organizations. We also know there are too many deaths on our roadways. In 2024, more than 20 responders have been struck and killed while managing roadway incidents. Thus, in this newsletter, we spotlight funding, engagement, and outreach to turn the tide of roadway crashes and fatalities:
Stay safe,
Paul Jodoin, Jim Austrich, and Joseph Tebo
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On December 13, 2023, the USDOT announced the award of 385 Safe Streets and Roads for All grants totaling $813 million to regional, local, and Tribal communities. These funds target tackling the preventable crisis of deaths on the Nation’s roads by employing the Safe System Approach: safer people, roads, vehicles, speeds, and post-crash care. The announcement includes 48 implementation grants focused on safety projects and strategies and 337 grants for planning and demonstration activities. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law created this first-of-its-kind program, which is a part of the more than $14 billion in the law dedicated to roadway safety, from FY 2022 to 2026.
One specific 2023 awardee, the Town of Colonie, NY, in collaboration with three bordering emergency medical services (EMS) agencies—the Town of Colonie EMS, Town of Guilderland EMS, and the Clifton Park Halfmoon Ambulance service—will pilot a “two-sided” demonstration safety approach focused on the prevention of avoidable crashes and post-crash care when a crash does occur. This $3 million project received $2.4 million in SS4A funding. Demonstration activities include the following:
- Pilot an emergency vehicle transponder system that informs other drivers of their proximity to an emergency vehicle responding to a crash
- Pilot a platform that interfaces with specialty care registries to give responders relevant health information about who was impacted by a crash, enabling field crew to transfer more quickly the impacted to appropriate care
- Investigate automatic vehicle location and vehicle informatics systems that may provide monitoring and safety reporting while on the road and en route to emergency calls
- Conduct additional stakeholder outreach, research on effective practices, and data analysis to create a prehospital health and safety information exchange and structured data warehouse
The Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for SS4A for Planning and Demonstration Grants is open through August 29, 2024. Encourage local and Tribal communities near you to apply!
The Nation’s TIM response leaders convened June 13–14, 2024, at the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) in Washington, DC, to discuss the future of TIM. During the summit, transportation directors, colonels and lieutenant colonels in law enforcement, EMS directors, fire chiefs, as well as chief executive officers, presidents, and board chairs of nearly 15 national associations discussed responder training, TIM laws and policies, growing TIM awareness, advancing performance-based management of TIM programs, funding for TIM, and the evolving landscape for TIM.
Executives also signed a Summit Goal and Commitment statement noting, “We commit to cultivating a national network of executive leaders deeply engaged in TIM, empowering each to strengthen TIM programs at the national, State, and local levels. Our commitment acknowledges that TIM is integral to the National Roadway Safety Strategy. We recognize that investments in TIM save the lives of responders and all road users while reducing the adverse economic and societal impacts of traffic incidents.”
Click here to view the Summit welcome with context-setting messages from FHWA Deputy Administrator Kristin White, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman, and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Associate Administrator for Research and Registration, Tom Keane.
 Source: FHWA. A collage of four Summit photos depict Kristin White, FHWA Deputy Administrator (upper left), various speakers and audience (upper right), the FHWA TIM Executive Leadership Group and USDOT Executives (bottom left), and FHWA Administrator Shailen Bhatt with Mark Kehrli, FHWA Director of the Office of Transportation Operations.
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A final rule adopting the 11th Edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways (MUTCD) was published in the Federal Register on December 19, 2023. The MUTCD, last updated in 2009, is the national standard for traffic signs, signals, and pavement markings to ensure a uniform and predictable environment for people who walk, bike, and drive. It is an important guide used every day by transportation professionals for roadway safety, and the 11th edition incorporates extensive input from members of the public. The new MUTCD includes updates to improve safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, and all road users. Please see the Federal Register notice for a detailed discussion of the major changes from the 2009 edition.
The February 2024 Talking TIM webinar recording highlights relevant changes from a TIM perspective.
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Except for the statutes and regulations cited, the contents of this document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the States or the public in any way. This document is intended only to provide information regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.
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