Washington State Traffic Incident Management Conference
September 16-17, 2008

Lacey Convention Center, Lacey WA

Conference Agenda | Nearby Hotels

Traffic incidents significantly impact the safety and operational efficiency of Washington’s roadway network. Traffic Incident Management (TIM) is a collaborative effort of incident response agencies and vendors focused on planned and coordinated multi-disciplinary process to detect, respond to, and clear traffic incidents as quickly as possible.  Effective TIM reduces the duration and impacts of traffic incidents and improves the safety of motorists, crash victims and emergency responders.

In 2007, the National Traffic Incident Management Coalition approved the National Unified Goal (NUG) for Traffic Incident Management which consists of three major objectives:  1. Responder safety, 2. Safe, quick clearance; and 3. Prompt, reliable, interoperable communications.  The goal also includes 18 cross cutting strategies designed to achieve these three major objectives.

The Washington Traffic Incident Management Coalition (WaTIMCo) was formed to oversee implementation of the NUG in Washington and the coalition sponsored the state’s first Traffic Incident Management Conference in 2007.  The inaugural TIM conference was highly successful and provided the opportunity for all incident response partners to collectively formulate strategies to enhance management of traffic incidents.  The conference also served as a “call to action” for continued collaboration among and between incident responders. 

The theme for the 2008 Traffic Incident Management Conference is “Operation Intersect.”  Operation Intersect is about Responders Coming together to Remove Obstacles, both on and off the roadway.  Whether an overturned or stalled vehicle or an obstacle to communication, cooperation, or coordination at the scene of an incident, the 2008 TIM Conference is about removing obstacles to effective traffic incident management. 

The 2008 Washington State TIM Conference is an effort to build ongoing responder partnerships and to collectively develop and discuss ideas for enhancing TIM activities in Washington.

On Day 1, Conference attendees will hear a summary of TIM “best practices” from around the country from two national experts. In addition, AAA executives will update attendees on AAA’s national “Move-Over” public awareness campaign and summarize a new AAA report that compares the costs of traffic crashes with the costs of congestion.  The Department of Ecology will demystify the response requirements for spills and hazardous material incidents and attendees will learn how a partnership between WSP, WSDOT, and the Towing partners is helping reduce congestion in the Seattle, Tacoma, and Spokane areas.    

On Day 2, attendees will learn about a new accelerated one-hour TIM curriculum and have the opportunity to provide input.  WSP and WSDOT explain how the WSDOT Traffic Management Centers and WSP Communications Centers work together to support on-scene responders and provide alternative routing options to the state’s traveler information systems and then WSP will present a case study of a major incident involving a hazardous material spill.  WSDOT will then preview an innovative new intelligent highway system called Active Traffic Management (ATM).  ATM is being planned for the Puget Sound Region and it can dynamically manage and control traffic based on prevailing conditions such as traffic volume and speeds.  Used successfully in Europe, ATM promises to improve responder and motorist safety by automatically detecting incidents through speed sensors in the roadway and then automatically lowering the speed limit upstream of the incident through speed harmonization and queue warning.   WSDOT will also explain how the deployment of tow away zones in congested areas also helps prevent traffic incidents and congestion.    The last conference session will be a multi-discipline panel discussion on implementing the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management.  WSDOT will wrap-up the conference and summarize several TIM programs, resources, and contacts that can assist responders as they work to build strong TIM partnerships in their communities.  

Conference Agenda