Posted on Thu, May. 18, 2006

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S.C. DOT INCIDENT RESPONSE

Program's worth greater than portrayed

By R.F. Jenkins

The news story "The $4.1 million question," April 30, may mislead readers as to the value of the motorist assistance program provided by the S.C. Department of Transportation. Here are some major points from the article on the S.C. DOT Incident Response Program that should be clarified:

"One of the program's main goals - getting stranded or wrecked vehicles out of the roadway so traffic can flow smoothly - was not an issue in 77.7 percent of responses statewide last year, according to DOT statistics, because vehicles already were off the road or in the median when the teams arrived to help."

This statement is incorrect. It assumes the vehicles in the medians and shoulders do not produce congestion. In fact, vehicles stranded in the median or on the roadside not only often cause traffic backups but also can cause secondary collisions. S.C. DOT employees who help in these situations not only assist the stranded motorist in getting out of harm's way, but many more motorists whose travel would be slowed by the disabled vehicle.

"Traffic control, another primary reason the teams were created, was listed as a provided service in just 5.2 percent of responses statewide last year, according to DOT statistics."

Again, the writer seems to regard traffic control during a highway incident as unimportant. He does not realize that the traffic control provided may last for hours and affect thousands of motorists such as those on U.S. 17 or U.S. 501 in the Grand Strand area. If incident responders can prevent one fatal crash due to the initial incident and congestion that occurred and keep traffic flowing, the S.C. DOT responders' efforts and the public have been well-served.

S.C. DOT incident responders have assisted more than 241,000 motorists over the past 10 years statewide. While that is a very large number, it is just a portion of how many people have benefited from the Incident Response Program. For every motorist stranded on the highway, there is a potential traffic problem that affects many, many other drivers.

The Incident Response Program - which operates on Interstates 85 and 77 in the Upstate; Interstates 26, 126, 20 and 77 in Columbia; Interstate 95 in Florence; Interstates 26 and 526 in Charleston; U.S. 501, U.S. 17, S.C. 22 and S.C. 31 in the Grand Strand; and on U.S. 278 and S.C. 170 in the Hilton Head-Beaufort area - is part of a much larger real time Traffic Operations Management Program called Intelligent Transportation Systems on the state's busiest and most important highways. ITS is a proactive means to address traffic congestion and the associated safety concerns for motorists when congestion occurs.

Your readers may be interested to know that the Incident Response Program on the Grand Strand receives funds from the U.S. Department of Transportation. ITS has been an integral part of each of the last major U.S. Department of Transportation highway funding bills for the past 10 years and continues to have an increasingly major role in the management of everyday traffic matters. States realize they cannot afford to "build" their way out of traffic congestion. The alternative is proactively managing congestion to provide the safest and most efficient travel for everyone.

In researching his article, the reporter would have benefited had he attended the April 4 news conference commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Incident Response Program as our partners, the S.C. Highway Patrol and the Federal Highway Administration, lauded this worthwhile congestion management program that has helped thousands of citizens.

Also, I would have been happy to discuss the program and facts with the reporter prior to the article being published if I had been contacted.