INDOT: TrafficWise

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Governor Mitch Daniels

About TrafficWise - Your Link to Smart Travel

TrafficWise is the Indiana Department of Transportation's (INDOT) program to use Intelligent Transportation Systems, or ITS, to relieve traffic congestion and improve safety. INDOT's ITS initiative is TrafficWise.

For real time traffic data and live camera views of traffic conditions in the Indianapolis metropolitan area and Northwest Indiana near Gary, click on the links at the bottom of this paragraph. You can also check out traffic conditions in Southern Indiana and the Louisville area by clicking on the Louisville TRIMARC link below. This information allows you to check out traffic conditions on freeways before you leave your home or workplace. When you're in your vehicle traveling the interstates, you can look to the large Dynamic Message Signs on the highway regarding traffic conditions to plan alternative routes if necessary. Other ITS avenues of communication of traffic conditions are alerts via the Highway Advisory Radio system and notices sent via the Internet or personal pagers.

Indianapolis Area Traffic
Northwest Indiana Traffic
Louisville TRIMARC

Hoosier Helpers - A Key Element of TrafficWise

If you've driven the Interstates in Indianapolis, Northwest Indiana near Gary, or Southern Indiana near Louisville, you may have seen the Hoosier Helpers at work. They're the people who patrol freeways in those areas in their distinctive vans or trucks, helping stranded motorists, removing debris from the road, or summoning help quickly in case of a crash, vehicle fire or other emergency. They can change a tire, supply enough fuel to get you to a service station, perhaps fix a minor mechanical problem and certainly get you help for the problems they can't solve. They also keep traffic moving. A Purdue University study of the Hoosier Helper program on the Borman Expressway (Interstate 80/94) in Northwest Indiana - where Hoosier Helpers aid nearly 20,000 motorists a year - reported a measurable payoff.

The study found that:

Hoosier Helpers make driving easier by clearing incidents quickly, thus reducing traffic congestion.
Hoosier Helpers make driving safer by reducing the number of secondary crashes - those that occur in traffic backups created by traffic incidents.

The net result: every dollar spent on the Hoosier Helper program saves motorists more than 10 times that much in time and fuel that isn't wasted sitting in traffic.

The Traffic Management Center staff and Hoosier Helpers are constantly in touch, exchanging information about motorists in need of help, and about congestion or other traffic problems. Like all effective communication, it's a two-way street.

Traffic Management Center operators can dispatch Hoosier Helpers to render assistance. Likewise, Hoosier Helpers can provide information about the causes of traffic tie-ups. As the TrafficWise system expands, and as more motorists are on the interstates in metropolitan areas, the coverage areas and the number of Hoosier Helpers out on the roadways will increase. Curently, the Hoosier Helpers patrol these interstates in three parts of the state:

Central Indiana (Indianapolis metropolitan area, covering 95 miles)

I-465 (entire loop)
I-65 from Southport Road to 71st Street
I-70 from I-465 on the west side to Post Road on the east side
I-69 from I-465 to 96th Street

Northwest Indiana (near Gary, covering 34 miles)

I-65 from U.S. 231 to U.S. 12/20
I-80/94 (Borman Expressway) from the Illinois State Line to I-90
I-94 from I-90 to S.R. 249

Southern Indiana (near Louisville, covering 28 miles)

I-64 from S.R. 62/64 to the Sherman Minton Bridge over the Ohio River
I-65 from the Kennedy Bridge over the Ohio River to Memphis Road
I-265 from I-64 to I-65

For more information on the Hoosier Helpers, please visit http://www.in.gov/indot/6700.htm.

Hoosier Helpers at Work

A Hoosier Helper changes a tire on the Borman Expressway (I-80/94) in Northwest Indiana.

Fender Bender? Move Vehicles To Shoulder

INDOT wants motorists to be safe as well as keep traffic moving smoothly on busy interstates and roadways.

Our Fender Bender signs reinforce Indiana law that states that drivers involved in crashes that do not result in injury or death shall not obstruct traffic more than necessary. Off the roadway or on a shoulder is a much safer place to exchange information or wait for law enforcement to arrive after a crash. Don't worry - your insurance coverage will not be compromised if you move your vehicle to the shoulder.

INDOT and the Indiana State Police urge motorists to dial 9-1-1 for more serious accidents involving bodily injury or when moving the damaged vehicle could be dangerous.