1 Incident Management combined with Traffic Management Isabel Wilmink, Ben Immers † , Peter Zwaneveld TNO Inro, Delft, the Netherlands, e-mail: isw@inro.tno.nl, bim@inro.tno.nl, pzw@inro.tno.nl. † K.U. Leuven, Department of Civil Engineering, Heverlee, Belgium Jaime Barceló, Lídia Montero Mercadé Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Facultat d’Informàtica, Barcelona, Spain, e-mail: barcelo@eio.upc.es, lmontero@eio.upc.es . Pablo Barceló TSS-Transport Simulation Systems, e-mail: info@tss-bcn.com SUMMARY (10 lines) COMBINING INCIDENT MANAGEMENT WITH TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES Incident management (IM) has been implemented in many countries over the past years. It can be seen as the total package of measures geared to optimising traffic safety during the handling of incidents (unexpected events such as accidents, stalled vehicles, spilled loads, etc.), to rapid and efficient handling of incidents and following on from this, to minimal traffic delays. The above definition indicates that IM comprises a variety of measures and that by applying these measures the realisation of several objectives is aimed at. Incident Management can be curative and preventive. Curative Incident Management Curative incident management consists of procedures and technical improvements to speed up incident detection, verification and response. As a result, Police, Ambulances, Fire Brigades, tow trucks and other emergency services arrive at the incident location sooner and clearance time is reduced. Numerous traffic management measures that can help the incident management process can be identified. Most fall in the following categories: • information dissemination about the incident • measures to increase the safety and efficiency of emergency services Information about incidents can be given to road users during the trip and at home or work. Variable message signs or radio messages (RDS-TMC) can be used to warn for incidents and congestion due to incidents. This should result in a reduction of the number of secondary incidents, and less ‘rubbernecking’ causing congestion in the opposite travel direction. Using a screen to block the drivers’ view of the incident can also prevent rubbernecking. At home and on the road information can be provided about alternative routes to avoid congestion due to incidents.