AZTech Traffic Incident Management (TIM) Coalition

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Led by the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS), the AZTech TIM Coalition is a multi-disciplinary traffic incident management partnership including state and local police, fire agencies, state and local transportation agencies, metropolitan planning offices and towing companies in the Phoenix metropolitan region to share ideas, lessons learned, best practices and knowledge to foster regional incident management.

Established in 2010 as a result of the Advanced Traffic Incident Management Workshop organized by the FHWA, MAG and AZTech held on November 16-17, 2010, in Glendale Arizona, the AZTech regional TIM Coalition is dedicated to collaborating for safer and more efficient management of incidents that occur on, or significantly impact, the region's roadways to meet the objectives of the National Unified Goal (NUG) developed by the National Traffic Incident Management Coalition (NTIMC) as follows:

• Responder Safety
  A key strategy to reducing risks to the safety of first responders is reducing the number and duration of traffic incident responses which expose the responder to the hazards of the roadway.
• Safe, Quick Clearance
  The TIM recognizes that, "Every 1 minute of blockage results in 4 minutes of delay," therefore there is a need to educate the public on the Quick Clearance Law (ARS 28-674) and the Move Over Law (28-775) to protect first responders and roadway travelers. The responders now recognize the value of what each one does. Since 25% of the congestion is caused by traffic incidents, first responders can have a great impact and mitigate congestion if their responses are quick and effective. Efforts of the TIM include the development of multidisciplinary TIM procedures with a focus on notification, response and clearance time goals.
• Prompt, Reliable, Interoperable Communications
  Coordination of first responders and technology allows the responders and their agencies to be better poised to improve the collection of performance measures data and CAD-to-CAD (computer aided dispatch) data exchange, and promotes better onsite communications among the different agencies responding to the same incidents, as well as between agencies and Traffic Management Centers. Coordinated responder communications and interoperable data exchange fosters better, more prompt and reliable agency communications with the media and the public for safer and more quick clearance times.

The region's TIM Coalition goals include having a planned and coordinated multi-agency and multi-disciplinary approach to detect, respond to, and remove traffic incidents so that traffic flow may be returned to normal as safely and rapidly as possible. Successful TIM procedures will decrease the length and effects of traffic incidents while improving the safety of motorists, crash victims and emergency responders. These goals can be achieved by following the NUG Strategies developed by the NTIMC.