Traffic Incident Management (TIM) consists of a planned and coordinated multidisciplinary process to detect, respond to, and clear traffic incidents so that traffic flow may be restored as safely and quickly as possible. Effective TIM reduces the duration and impacts of traffic incidents and improves the safety of motorists, crash victims, and emergency responders. This coordinated process involves many public and private sector partners, including law enforcement, fire and rescue, public safety communications, and towing.

Spotlight Project: Next-Gen TIM

Next-generation (NextGen) TIM increases the focus on local agency TIM programs while integrating new and emerging technology, tools, and training to improve incident detection and reduce safety response and clearance times on all roadways.  By using NextGen TIM methods, State and local agencies can increase traveler and responder safety, improve trip reliability and commerce movement, and enable responder communities to focus more resources on other pressing citizen needs.

Image source: FHWA.

FHWA works to make work zones safer and less disruptive by providing transportation practitioners with high-quality products, tools, and information that can be of value in planning, designing, and implementing safer, more efficient, and less congested work zones.

Spotlight Project: Smarter Work Zones

As part of FHWA’s Every Day Counts initiative, Smarter Work Zones are work zones that utilize innovative strategies to maximize work zone safety and minimize mobility impacts. Focus of the project is on coordination of construction projects and use of technology applications to dynamically manage work zone impacts.

Image source: FHWA.

Research about the effects of inclement weather on highway operations seeks to better understand the safety and mobility impacts of weather on roadways and promote strategies and tools to mitigate those impacts. More timely, accurate, and relevant information about these weather-related impacts to the roads enables transportation managers and travelers to make more effective decisions.

Spotlight Project: Automated Vehicles (AVs) and Adverse Weather

With recent advancements in AV technology, FHWA is exploring AV needs, opportunities, and potential shortcomings during adverse weather conditions. The research explores how adverse weather and road weather conditions affect vehicle sensors and perception systems and how drivers react to or take back control from their vehicles, by discussing the relationship between weather and AV performance.

For more information, see the Automated Vehicles and Adverse Weather Final Report.

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The data needs regarding nonrecurring events are unique and difficult to collect and process. FHWA is developing an operational framework for managing the disruptions from nonrecurrent events based on past and ongoing efforts related to work zone, road weather, and traffic incident data.

Spotlight Project: Work Zone Data Exchange

The Work Zone Data Exchange aims to deploy work zone data into vehicles to help human drivers and automated driving systems navigate work zones more safely. The project uses a community-based standards development process to develop a data specification to harmonize work zone data for third-party use.

Image source: FHWA.