APWA Selects TIMS2GO for 2022 Technical Innovation Award
The Illinois Tollway’s TIMS2GO mobile incident response tool has earned the American Public Works Association’s 2022 Technical Innovation Award.
The national award recognizes the development, management and implementation of a creative idea, program, process or system that enhances the delivery of public works services to the public.
TIMS2GO measures up to those standards.
The unique mobile app puts all the intelligent transportation system resources of the Illinois Tollway Traffic Operations Center, including its Traffic and Incident Management System (TIMS), in the palms of the hands of traffic managers.
TIMS2GO gives traffic managers the ability to gather real-time incident information and make better-informed decisions when directing the appropriate resources to respond to incidents anytime from anywhere using any smartphone, tablet or laptop.
The app provides instant access to livestreaming video, incident details and response status updates. Traffic managers can efficiently share information with Illinois State Police District 15, which is responsible for patrolling the Illinois Tollway system, as well as other emergency responders and roadway maintenance personnel.
Intelligent transportation system technologies are vital to Illinois Tollway efforts to provide safe and efficient travel for its more than 1.5 million daily drivers. The Tollway has more than 2,200 ITS devices deployed across its 294-mile system in Northern Illinois, providing comprehensive coverage of its five roadways. ITS assets include 1,340 CCTV cameras, 417 vehicle detection systems, 51 dynamic message signs and 21 roadway weather information systems, among other technologies.
These ITS components are integrated into TIMS, the Tollway’s advanced traffic management system used to detect, monitor and confirm details of traffic and roadway conditions in real time from the Traffic Operations Center at the agency’s headquarters in Downers Grove. Traffic operations technicians use TIMS to communicate those details to roadway operations and maintenance personnel, emergency responders, other traffic management centers in the region, the media and directly motorists using computer-aided dispatch, roadway message signs and internet-based services such as Twitter and Waze.
The TIMS2GO Mobile Incident Response Tool puts all those ITS resources in the palms of the hands of Illinois Tollway traffic incident managers.
As a result, the Tollway’s traffic and incident managers can be called upon at any given moment day or night to make informed decisions to effectively guide emergency responders. By quickly receiving all the details of any given incident, emergency responders can take appropriate action and minimize the potential for further injuries or property damage.
Making traffic and incident management possible anytime from anywhere, the TIMS2GO mobile incident response tool furthers the Tollway’s mission to provide and promote a safe and efficient system of highways while ensuring the highest possible level of service to its customers.
The Illinois Tollway will be recognized for this achievement at the APWA national conference in August.
See TIMS2GO in action here.