Policy Updates

3/11/2025 - CHANGES TO OUR STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY AS OF 07/10/2024

1. FOLLOW UP E-MAIL CHANGES

1.1  NO E-MAIL REQUIRED: FOR MINOR LANE OBSTRUCTIONS (COLLISION, DISABLED) THAT ARE BLOCKING A SINGLE LANE OF TRAVEL THAT WILL CLEAR RELATIVELY QUICKLY (LESS THAN 60 MIN). EXCEPTION TO THE RULE IS FOR CRITICAL INCIDENTS IN WHICH LANE CLOSURE DURATION IS PROJECTED TO EXCEED 60 MIN, FATALITIES, OR HAZMAT INCIDENTS. IN THESE CASES E-MAIL STANDARDS REMAIN THE SAME.

1.2  MAINTENANCE FOLLOW UP: EXAMPLE CALL: A MAINTENANCE EVENT AT I-35 @ STASSNEY LN 

OLD PROCEDURE:   WE USE TO SEND OUT THE E-MAIL TO AUS-ITS-EVERYONE, TRAVIS CENTRAL AND ROY JORGENSON.

NEW PROCEDURE:  UPDATED PROCEDURE WILL BE AUS-ITS-EVERYONE, AND RESPONDING YARD ONLY. FOR THIS EXAMPLE THE FOLLOW-UP WOULD BE TO AUS-ITS-EVERYONE & ROY JORGENSON SINCE RJA WILL BE THE RESPONDING YARD FOR IH-35 @ STASSNEY.

NOTE: THE INTENTION FOR THE E-MAIL CHANGES IS TO LIMIT THE AMMOUNT OF E-MAILS GENERATED FOR OUTSIDE PERSONNEL THAT ARE NOT RESPONDING TO THE CALL OR NOT REQUIRED TO BE PARTY TO THE INFORMATION. FOR EXAMPLE A MAINTENANCE YARD, TxDOT MANAGER, ADMINISTRATOR, OR STAFFING THAT IS PART OF THE MAINTENANCE YARD GROUP THAT IS NOT RESPONDING TO THE SCENE GETTING 2,3,4 OR MORE E-MAILS ABOUT A EVENT THAT IS NOT PERTAINING TO THEM. TMC ADMINISTRATION, TMC FRONT LINE MANAGERS & TxDOT WILL BE UPDATING THE AUS-ITS-EVERYONE GROUP TO REMOVE STAFF THAT IS NOT REQUIRED TO BE WITHIN THIS LISTING. AT SOME POINT THE AUS-ITS-EVERYONE GROUP WENT FROM BEING TMC AND ADMIN TO ALL PERSONNEL ASSIGNED TO THE INTELLIGENT TRAFFIC SYSTEMS (ITS) MAINTENANCE & TRAFFIC SAFETY DIVISION WHICH WAS NOT ITS INTENDED USE CASE

2. MISSING PERSONS: FOR AMBER, CLEAR, BLUE, CAMO ALERTS WE WILL NO LONGER BE PLACING THE BEACONS ON THE ALERT. THE OTHER PROCEDURES REMAIN THE SAME MINUS THE FLASHING BEACONS. THIS IS INTENDED FOR AUS TO FALL IN LINE WITH OUR SURROUNDING DISTRICTS WHO CURRENTLY DO NOT USE BEACONS FOR MISSING PERSONS ALERTS.

NOTE: THE PERCEIVED INTENTION IN THIS IS TO ONLY HAVE BEACONS ON WHEN A PUBLIC HAZARD I.E. LANE BLOCKING OR HAZARD IS PRESENT, IN REMOVING THE BEACONS THE PUBLIC WILL NOT BECOME DESENSITIZED TO SEEING THEM ON SO THAT IN AN ACTUAL EMERGENCY OR PUBLIC HAZARD IT WILL CALL THEIR ATTENTION TO THE DMS.

3. UNIFORM STANDARDS:

MONDAY – FRIDAY TMC STAFF WILL WEAR A TxDOT BRANDED UNIFORM SHIRT WITH BLUE JEANS, KHAKIS, OR SLACKS. NO OPEN TOED SHOES, & NO SHORTS WILL BE PERMITTED.

SATURDAY & SUNDAY: BUSINESS CASUAL (CIVILIAN) ATTIRE WILL BE PERMITTED WITH THE FOLLOWING STIPULATIONS: NO OPEN TOED SHOES, NO SHORTS, NO STAINED, SOILED, TORN, OR TATTERED ATTIRE, T-SHIRTS IF WORN CANNOT PRESENT WITH ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, LUDE, OR OTHERWISE UNPROFESSIONAL WORDING OR IMAGES. IN TODAYS ENVIRONMENT YOU SHOULD ALSO CONSIDER REFRAINING FROM ANYTHING THAT COULD BE SEEN AS POLITICAL OR DIVISIVE.

4. REMINDER ONLY:  PLEASE REMEMBER TO FIX CAMERAS TO BE POINTED TO VIEW THE FULL ROADWAY I.E. NOT ZOOMED IN  OR POINTED SHOWING JUST THE SHOULDER OR A SINGLE LANE. NEWS, LAW ENFORCEMENT, & EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTERS USE OUR FEEDS TO MONITOR TRAFFIC FOR RESPONSE PURPOSES AND IN THE NEWS OUTLET CASE TO PROVIDE UPDATED INFO TO THE PUBLIC.

5. TMC WEBSITE: CHRIS HAS MADE A SITE FOR TMC DAILY OPERATIONS (LINK HERE) THAT IS BEING UPDATED DAILY WITH RESOURCES. RATHER THAN HAVING 3 OR 4 SEPARATE SITES THIS IS INTENDED TO BE A SINGLE POINT OF CONTACT OR A ONE STOP SHOP FOR ALL THINGS TMC. AS I SAID IT IS BEING UPDATED CONSTANTLY WITH NEW ITEMS AND RESOURCES TO HELP IN OUR DAILY OPERATIONS.

10/18/2024 - The PIO would now like to be called when the closure has been opened to traffic. 

10/16/2024 - General Policy Updates

1. TMC will monitor cameras, and for all verified Rekor incidences outside of HERO jurisdiction, such as SH 130, E US 290, MoPac N of Parmer, NB IH 35 in the Georgetown area, operators will contact the appropriate agency, i.e., Law Enforcement or Courtesy Patrol.

2. For all Rekor incidences, we will send HERO unless we can verify on a camera there is no incident at the location.

3. For Route 8,  HERO will cover W US 290 from the ‘Y’ in Oak Hill up to Nutty Brown Rd; HERO will be dispatched to any calls for service in this area.

4. For Overnight personnel, when rejecting a Rekor incident that is outside of the coverage area, i.e., incidents outside of IH 35 between SH 45 S and SH 45 N, we will begin using “Resource Constraint” from the drop box instead of “Location not Relevant.”  

5. Dispatchers will be required to log into Rekor daily and have the “Units” selected from the Rekor filter (ask supervisors or management for assistance if needed).  This Rekor page will allow operators to see where the HERO units are located.

6. TMC has been directed to begin dispatching the nearest HERO unit to clear incidences regardless of which unit is assigned to the route.  If you receive any complaints from the HERO drivers regarding this new SOP, please notify your supervisor with the HERO unit number, driver name, and IN.  The supervisor shall notify management so the issue can be resolved. 

7. Over night shifts & Weekends:  Rekor events on HERO routes not covered by HERO and which can be confirmed with a camera, notify respective allied agencies. Also, ask for dispatch times from the agencies and document the clearance time.  This cannot be done in Lonestar so please make a notation and forward to Joe at the end of the month. 

10/01/2024 - CTRMA - Team, I have received an email from Fabiola with CTRMA, she is asking that we continue to send all emails relating to CTRMA incidences, as we previously did before.  Please start sending the follow ups to CTRMA when warranted.  Any questions do not hesitate to ask.

09/24/2024 - Pulice - Team, over the past weekend we we’re made aware of an issue with the call out number for Pulice Construction, I spoke with the PM Kyle Rodemacher who informed me that the system they are using is a system that must cycle through all the numbers they have in the data bank basically.  What that means is when we call the number provided and no one answers say on 4 rings, we need to let the system continue ringing to go to the next number, if we hang up and call back the system will pick up that same number it stopped out with the potential of getting a voicemail.  As explained to me if the system is unable to find someone it will ring all the numbers simultaneously at which point hopefully someone will answer.  I understand this would seem tiresome especially on Night Shift, but he also stated they are looking into the system to make sure the system isn’t glitching, if for some reason there is still a problem, please do not hesitate to make management aware. 

08/28/2024 - Alerts - Team, it has been brought to my attention that some of us are not filling out the crib sheet or completing the After-Action Report, when we receive an email regarding notifications of Alerts, and cancellations of Alerts.  The crib sheet is needed for when we are notified of the cancellation, the After-Action Report is completed and sent to TransGuide, none of these procedures have changed.  The only thing that is not required is saving the After-Action Report.  All if you have forgotten how to do the Crib Sheet or the After-Action Report, I would highly advise you to get with your Supervisor or myself, so you can be updated.

08/15/2024 - Pulice - Wyrick Tatum with Pulice has called and asked us to use this number for any MOT on call situations moving forward.

 512-254-9990:  When you call this is the message you will hear:

• Thank you for calling the On-Call Maintenance of Traffic line for Pulice Construction.  Please listen to the following prompts and make a selection.  For the DAY on-call coordinator, please press ‘1’ now.  For the NIGHT on-call coordinator, please press ‘2’ now.

07/16/2024 - CTRMA - Team, Fabiola with CTRMA asked if we could begin sending for Traffic Fatalities only within the area limits an email to communications@ctrma.org, I have updated the Knowledge Base and the Maps with this information.  I also made a contact in Lonestar with the email address.  The contact will be under the contact tab in Lonestar.

07/02/2024 - CTRMA - Team, CTRMA has changed their call list see below, the Knowledge Base will be updated accordingly:

 Please see order of contact below:

Daytime 512 642-5770 Monday through Friday 7:00am to 4pm CST

Nighttime/ Weekends – 737 259-4335

Saul Ramirez – 737-329-0938 if neither of the two numbers above don’t answer.

Ruben Oseguera III-512-557-7062 if neither of the three numbers above answer. 

04/11/2024 - TOLLS - Team, in the Knowledge Base I have updated the sections for SH 130, SH 45 and SL 1 Toll North of Parmer up to SH 45, they are requesting that when a motorist is stuck on the Toll to transfer them to the TMC Only number, please do not blind transfer the caller we want to give the operator information before releasing the line, only give out the Citizens Only number if requested, this will take place immediately following reading this email, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.  Also you will note for Toll Fees Waived there has been an addition to the list as well.

01/22/2025 - FORM 2111 - Any incident or event that, in the opinion of the Division Administrator or FLH Division Director, will generate immediate national interest and/or media coverage.   Incidents or events that create disruption to NHS operations for 8 hours or more. 

**NOTE** ON ALL TRAFFIC FATALITIES OR WHEN ONE OR MORE OF THE BELOW REQUIREMENTS ARE MET THE SEVERITY ‘URGENT’ WILL BE USED WHEN SENDING THE ‘FOLLOW UP REPORT.

These incidents can include, but are not limited to:

(1) Damage to, or closure of highways or highway infrastructure caused by an act of nature including, but not limited to, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, or wildfires. For winter weather, only report closures to the Interstate Highway System;

(2) Damage to, or closure of highways or highway infrastructure, caused by crashes, terrorist or criminal acts, or unknown causes;

(3) Evacuation conducted for any reason; or

(4) Planned special events or construction that requires an extended (greater than 8 hour)closure on the Interstate Highway System.

 Other highway incidents (including incidents that occur on NHS and non-NHS roads) that shall be reported regardless of the reason or duration of the disruption:

(1)  Crashes involving 6 or more fatalities;

(2)  Crashes involving 10 or more vehicles;

(3) Commercial Vehicle crashes resulting in 2 or more fatalities or receiving statewide media attention;

(4) Highway fatalities directly related to a natural disaster;

(5) School bus crashes resulting in serious injuries, fatalities, or statewide media attention;

(6) Passenger bus crashes (including transit buses and private motorcoach operations) resulting in 2 or more fatalities, 5 or more serious injuries (requiring transport), or receiving statewide media attention; or

(7) Crashes or other incidents involving significant damage to highway infrastructure.

(8) Highway incidents resulting in the loss of life or serious injury of a prominent individual such as a Member of Congress, senior member of the Executive Branch, military official, diplomatic dignitary, or other major public figure.

05/21/2025 - HERO - HERO advised Per TxDOT Officials, we are no longer providing traffic control for tow trucks that are on the shoulder not blocking lanes, even if they request our assistance.  If this changes in the future, HERO will keep the TMC updated.

06/30/2025 - CCTV Monitoring - 📌 Key Procedures

1. Shift-Based Camera Monitoring

• Each shift will include two dedicated four-hour blocks for traffic monitoring:

  • Days: 5a – 9a and 9a – 1p

  • Afternoons: 1p – 5p and 5p – 9p

  • Nights: 9p – 1a and 1a – 5a

• Please finalize and circulate your team’s schedule in a format that’s easy to track.

2. Dispatcher Responsibilities

• Dispatchers must return any re-positioned cameras to traffic-monitoring configurations before the end of their assigned block.

3. Supervisory Oversight

• Supervisors will perform ongoing quality checks to ensure adherence to camera-positioning standards throughout the shift.

4. Reporting Inoperable Cameras

• If a camera becomes non-functional—or is already inoperable—staff must report it immediately.

• I will coordinate with John to potentially resume distributing a list of out-of-service cameras, as we did in the past.

If there are any questions or adjustments needed, please reach out to me directly.