In December 2015, The Arizona Department of Transportation, Arizona Department of Public Safety, and the Maricopa County Department of Transportation hosted a Regional Traffic Incident Management (TIM) Summit in Phoenix, Arizona. This event was sponsored by the National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE) along with Arizona Council for Transportation Innovation and Federal Highway Administration.

The Summit organizers have release their official summary of the event, highlighting the importance of the TIM Summit, topics, participant discussions, outcomes, as well as action items. The summary can be found on NOCoE’s Knowledge Center here. A brief overview of the Summit was also posted by NOCoE in its January newsletter and can be found here. 

Readers are encouraged to look through the above summaries to get a sense of the important issues, ideas, and case studies shared and discussed. An important result from this event was the proposal to form a Multi-State Executive Leadership Group. Modeled after the National Executive Leadership Group and built to assist in the dissemination and implementation of National ELG items. Such a Multi-State ELG will help facilitate greater dialogue and cooperation among stakeholders such as transportation agencies; safety officials from police, fire, and EMS; as well as the towing industry at the Local, State, and Multi-State levels. The Southwest Multi-State ELG would represent these interests and perspectives from Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah. Included in the organizer’s summary is a detailed list of Local, State, and Multi-State action items to ensure the success of TIM in these areas and safety of everyone on the road. Once up and running, the Southwest Multi-State ELG may act as a model to be duplicated in other regions throughout the Country. NOCoE will update the TSMO community on any progress being made by Southwest Multi-State ELG through our website and discussion forums.