RALEIGH – On Thursday, the N.C. Department of Transportation received a national award from the National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE) for its new Traffic Incident Management (TIM) Training Track. The NCDOT is proud to share this award with the N.C. State Highway Patrol, who was a significant partner in helping to make the track a reality.
The multi-discipline training track provides a lifelike classroom for incident responders to practice real-life situations with goals of decreasing incident response time, improving air quality, and helping save the lives of responders.
The track was designed to incorporate a broad range of geographic characteristics found throughout the state that allow local agencies to practice responding to various incident types and practicing complex vehicle maneuvers.
“It has been exciting to watch the TIM Training Track evolve from concept to full realization in just a few short years," said Jennifer Portanova, the state systems operations engineer for the NCDOT. “The State Highway Patrol has been a great partner by allowing the colocation of the training track within their existing facility.
“Now that we have the track, our responders begin their roles with much more situational awareness and knowledge," Portanova said. “We are very honored with the recognition from the NOCoE on what we feel has been a significant success for North Carolina."
The TIM Training Track and its equipment allow responders to practice protecting approaching and on-scene first responders, keeping hazardous spills from contaminating nearby water sources, and vehicle positioning to maximize visibility and physical protection of responders while eliminating the trainees exposure to live traffic.
The track also gives responders the opportunity to try out new technology, such as the use of drones and new equipment such as vehicle mounted message boards. As well, the facility has the capability of recording training exercises to be used for discussion during classroom work.
This is the third year in a row the NCDOT has been recognized by the NOCoE, which is a Washington, D.C.-based partnership of three national transportation-minded organizations.
Last year, the department was recognized for modernizing and centralizing traffic signals in smaller towns and rural areas across the state. In 2019, the center named the department the overall winner for its response to Hurricane Florence for using information and other tools to maximize roadway efficiency and safety during a major crisis.
Click here to watch a video about the TIM Training Track.