Getting the Big Picture on Kentucky's Roadways

February 3, 2004

The Transportation Cabinet's new operations center (TOC) puts you in the middle of the action when it comes to Kentucky's roadways. The new center is a state-of-the-art facility, and a great example of how Kentucky is using technology to increase safety and efficiency.

Cameras placed around the state help the Transportation Cabinet get the big picture instantly on highways and state roads.

The TOC was developed to help coordinate operations and incident management activities on Kentucky's highway system, and create an integrated program that links traffic operations centers, emergency response agencies and transit agencies by real-time communications. "We are pleased to have such a unique space designed specifically for an operations center. Safety is a high priority for us in the Cabinet and through the use of technology, we are now able to manage incidents on the highways more effectively and help motorists arrive safely at their destination," explained Transportation Cabinet Secretary Clay Bailey.

Some of the TOC's responsibilities include:

• Centralized dispatch for all KY Vehicle Enforcement uniformed officers
• Manage the Condition Acquisition and Reporting System(CARS) which includes Kentucky's 511 Website and phone number (511 averages 56,780 calls/month)
• Coordinate all emergency response and recovery efforts for 12 transportation districts
• Coordinate and monitor efforts of 4 regional operations centers
• Manage dynamic message signs (Including Amber Alerts)
• Be a liaison to and serve as a backup for the state Emergency Operations Center
• Monitor/evaluate current and forecast weather conditions
• Provide weather forecast guidance to districts
• Provide road and ground temperature updates from over 37 Roadway Weather Information System (RWIS) sites statewide

One of the features of the new Transportation Cabinet building is the auditorium, which is just getting some finishing touches. It features the latest multimedia equipment and can be linked to the TOC for training purposes or to serve as an additional information center in the event of an emergency.

Transportation Cabinet officials see the role of the new TOC expanding in the future to hopefully include:

• Monitoring of the 3,000 state-owned stop lights for outages or problems
• Email and text messaging subscription service that can notify subscribers of roadway emergencies, conditions and re-routes
• Using the consolidation the operation center provides to better analyze and strategize data with other statewide systems

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