Traffic Incident Management
Various traffic incident management scenes - heavy traffic after accident, traffic planning, police car blocking road, overturned car on bridge, detour, rescue workers.
Office of Operations 21st Century Operations using 21st Century Technologies

Welcome to Traffic Incident Management (TIM)

What's New

Engage with the broader TIM Community by attending a live Talking TIM webinar, or view 5+ years of archived webinars on all things related to traffic incident management.

FHWA Every Day Counts Round Seven (EDC-7) kicked off in 2023 with Next Generation TIM: Technology for Saving Lives. For more information, view the program factsheet or visit the program website.

Recently published TIM factsheets:

TIM Postcrash Care Fact Sheet describes the training, process, and benefits of TIM Technology Supporting Postcrash Care as a Next Generation TIM technology.

TIM EVP Fact Sheet highlights the implementation and benefits of Emergency Vehicle Preemption (EVP) as a Next Generation TIM technology.

Introduction to TIM Factsheet explains the goal of TIM programs, and their ability to provide a high return on investment in the form of safety, travel reliability, air quality, energy use, and operational efficiency.

Rural TIM Factsheet highlights the common challenges traffic incident responders face on rural roadways, due to their unique roadway characteristics and conditions that create safety challenges for both responders and the traveling public.

Local TIM Factsheet illuminates the importance of TIM on local roads, introduces scalable solutions, and highlights local examples.

Video Sharing Factsheet focuses on the sharing of video between responder vehicles and traffic management centers to improve collective situational awareness.

Responder-to-Vehicle (R2V) Alerts Factsheet explains how public agencies are deploying responder-to-vehicle alert technology to mitigate the safety risk associated with managing incidents adjacent to travel lanes.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Factsheet and Primer describe how unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) can benefit traffic crash investigations and other TIM-related activities.

Computer-Aided Dispatch Integration Factsheet and Primer describe how integrating data from law enforcement and public safety computer-aided dispatch systems with transportation operating systems improves incident detection and response.

TIM Responder Training

Congrats to Texas, the first state to conduct virtual TIM Train the Trainer sessions. Congrats to Maryland and Georgia for also hosting virtual TIM sessions.

View the list of state contacts for upcoming TIM training.

Quick Link Resources

Traffic incidents are unplanned roadway events that affect or impede the normal flow of traffic. Traffic incidents increase the likelihood of secondary crashes and pose a threat to the safety of incident responders as well as the traveling public. Incidents affect travel reliability, commerce, and transportation system performance. One of the essential responsibilities of transportation and public safety agencies is to ensure the safe and quick clearance of traffic incidents.

Traffic Incident Management (TIM) consists of a planned and coordinated multi-disciplinary 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; improves the safety of motorists, crash victims, and emergency responders; and reduces the frequency of secondary crashes. TIM is integral to the The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS), and is specifically called out as a key element for the post-crash care objective.

The goal for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) TIM Program is to continuously improve the safety of responders and road users, the reliability of travel, and the efficiency of incident and emergency response through institutionalization of TIM programs. To achieve this goal, the FHWA TIM Program focuses on five tracks:

  • National Leadership and TIM Organization
  • Data and Performance Management
  • Research and Development for Technology, Tools, and Practice Innovation
  • Training, Education, and Outreach
  • Policies, Procedures, and Laws

The TIM Program is housed in the FHWA's Office of Transportation Operations under the Associate Administrator for Operations.

Comments and Suggestions

We welcome comments and suggestions. Please address your comments and suggestions to:

Paul Jodoin
Office of Operations, Federal Highway Administration
Department of Transportation
202-366-5465
Paul.Jodoin@dot.gov

James Austrich
Office of Operations, Federal Highway Administration
Department of Transportation
202-366-0731
James.Austrich@dot.gov

Joseph Tebo
Office of Operations, Federal Highway Administration
Department of Transportation
202-366-9242
joseph.tebo@dot.gov