What is TIM?
The United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration defines Traffic Incident Management as 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."
In Pennsylvania on average:
- 355 reportable traffic crashes occur each day (approximately 15 crashes every hour)
- 3 persons are fatally injured in reportable crashes each day (one fatality every eight hours)
- 227 persons are injured in reportable crashes each day (about 9 injuries every hour)
Effective TIM improves the safety of motorists, incident victims, and emergency responders across all disciplines while simultaneously reducing congestion delays. TIM in Pennsylvania represents a blend of rural and urban needs, of volunteer and paid professionals, of personnel from state and local agencies, and of county governments and state directives.
Ultimately, TIM is a coordinated process that involves partners from both the public and private sector including, but certainly not limited to:
- Law Enforcement
- Fire/Rescue
- Emergency Medical Services
- Transportation Agencies
- Public Safety Communications
- Emergency Management
- Towing and Recovery
- Hazardous Materials Responders/Contractors
- Traffic Media Outlets
FAQ
These three terms are often confused and sometime used interchangeably. They mean distinctively different things to different people.
Traffic Incident Management is that set of actions and procedures taken by multiple agencies and private sector partners acting cooperatively in a coordinated manner to prepare for and quickly and safely detect, respond to and remove traffic incidents and then to effectively address their lingering effects on traffic flow and safety.
Incident Command (ICS) is the command and control structure for the effective management of personnel and equipment resources during an incident. Through ICS, agencies working at an incident scene are able to achieve:
- Common terminology
- Modular organization
- Integrated communications
- Unified command structure
- Consolidated action plan
- Manageable span-of-control
- Predesignated incident facilities
- Comprehensive resource management
Emergency Management is a general term that describes public safety agencies as well as the set of practices and procedures used in response to an emergency incident. There are also Emergency Management agencies at the state and local level that are tasked with the planning and preparation for major natural and man-made emergencies. (Source: USDOT Federal Highway Administration)