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Editor’s Note

With SSP professionals like Mark Beall of the Florida DOT, Brian Kleinfelter of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, Harvey Heaton of Telvent and Hawaii DOT FSP, Susan Chzar of Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority, Drew Scotti of NY's Autobase and Mike Bowman of Indiana DOT as well as private sponsor Mapfre Commerce Insurance's Patrick McDonald lending their knowledge and experience related to sponsorship of SSPs, Safe Highway Matters' feature article captures both the associated benefits and the concerns expressed by state departments of transportation on the topic of sponsorship.

Editor’s Note

Happy New Year! The beginning of 2012 marks two years since Safe Highway Matters published its first issue and we would like to thank all of our readers for another great year in 2011 with the promise of more to come in 2012.

To start the year, Safe Highway Matters is taking a more in-depth look at an increasingly pursued opportunity for Safety Service Patrols: private sector sponsorship. In 2011 alone Maryland, Kansas and Indiana departments of transportation and toll road authorities announced private sector sponsorships of their Safety Service Patrols with even more states looking at the opportunity for 2012. Public/private partnerships are welcomed by states facing tightened budgets that threaten SSPs, but Safe Highway Matters wanted to know, what is the overall perception of patrol sponsorships? What are some of the drawbacks and hesitations associated with sponsorship?

Andrew Graham, author of our feature article this quarter, dove in head first to learn more about private sector sponsorship. With SSP professionals like Mark Beall of the Florida DOT, Brian Kleinfelter of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, Harvey Heaton of Telvent and Hawaii DOT FSP, Susan Chzar of Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority, Drew Scotti of NY’s Autobase and Mike Bowman of Indiana DOT as well as private sponsor Mapfre Commerce Insurance’s Patrick McDonald lending their knowledge and experience related to sponsorship of SSPs, Safe Highway Matters’ feature article captures both the associated benefits and the concerns expressed by state departments of transportation on the topic of sponsorship. We thank each of our contributors for their time and dedication to the improvement of traffic incident management through shared knowledge.

As a compliment to our feature article, Safe Highway Matters is taking a look at promotion of Safety Service Patrols – sponsored or not. There are many opportunities available to SSPs to reach the public beyond the roadway and we’ve explored some of the best practices currently being employed by state SSPs to become more recognized and involved in their communities.

Finally, an extra thank you to Gary Millsaps of the Delcan Corporation and previously of the Georgia DOT for providing insight into traffic incident management management and for offering his views on sponsorship of the GDOT HERO patrol.

Stay updated with us throughout the quarter on our Twitter page and be sure to check out our forum for new questions posed by SSP professionals. We welcome your thoughts and feedback and we look forward to hearing from you.

Wishing you safe travels,

Rita Gallagher

Editor in Chief

Back to Safe Highway Matters: Winter 2012

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