Kansas City Scout Receives MARC Regional Leadership Award

LEE'S SUMMIT, MO. –The Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) bestowed Kansas City Scout with its Regional Leadership Award on Friday June13, 2008. The award recognizes individual and institutions that demonstrate leadership and excellence in the improvement of the quality of life for the region’s citizens. US Senator, Pat Roberts and Missouri State Senator, Chris Koster also received this high honor. Award recipients were honored for advocating regional programs, advancing the vision of the region as a community of excellence, addressing regional challenges, and applying innovative solutions to regional problems.

The award was presented to E. Jason Sims, Manager of Kansas City Scout and Jerry Younger, Kansas Department of Transportation, Deputy Secretary for Engineering & State Transportation Engineer, at a luncheon ceremony held today at the Westin Crown Center, in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.

Scout earned the award for its “Travel Time Implementation Project”, which highlights the need to reduce congestion on area interstates and the realization that conventional methods such as pavement expansion had already been exhausted. As a solution Kansas City Scout launched Travel Times, and in a concept new to the nation, combined Travel Time Messaging with Incident Messaging in an innovative two-phase message concept.

Travel Times represents the time it takes a driver, driving at current freeway speeds to travel from one fixed point to another target. Incident Messaging along with Travel Times greater satisfies the commuting public’s desire to receive real time travel information. If an incident occurs, messages are configured to show both travel time messages and incident messages. This information now lets commuters gauge how long it will take to get past the blocked lane(s) coupling travel times with incident information drivers can make informed decisions about alternative routes.

Kansas City Scout Wins APWA Technical Innovation Award

LEE'S SUMMIT, MO. –Kansas City Scout won the 2008 Technical Innovation Award from the Kansas City Chapter of the American Public Works Association for Scout’s Travel Time Reliability and Incident Management Implementation. The award was established to provide recognition for an individual, team or organization for the development and implementation of a creative idea, device, process or system that enhances the goals of public works in serving the public and protecting the environment. The award was presented to E. Jason Sims, Manager of Kansas City Scout, Gina Myles, Community Relations Coordinator and Rusty James, Incident Management Coordinator at the National Public Works Week luncheon ceremony held today at the Muehlebach Tower, in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.

Scout’s nomination “Travel Time Reliability and Incident Management, Kansas City’s Scout’s Combination Punch for Fighting Congestion”, highlighted Scout’s recognition of the need to reduce congestion on area interstates and realization that conventional methods such as pavement expansion had already been exhausted. As a solution Kansas City Scout launched Travel Times, with emphasis on Incident Management as key weapons in its fight against congestion in 2007.

Travel Times represents the time it takes a driver, driving at current freeway speeds to travel from one fixed point to another target. Traffic Incident Management is the process of coordinating resources of different partnering agencies and private sector companies to identify, respond to, and clear traffic incidents as quickly as possible. With Travel Times and Incident Management Scout strives to reduce the impact of incidents on safety and congestion. As a result of this program Kansas City Scout has seen a 30 percent reduction in clearance of incidents on the Scout system.

(Pictured from left to right: Rusty James - Incident Management Coordinator, Gina Myles - Community Relations Coordinator, E. Jason Sims - Manager of Kansas City Scout with Joel Riggs - Past President of KC Chapter of APWA)

APWA Honors E. Jason Sims as Professional Manager of the Year

LEE'S SUMMIT, MO. – E. Jason Sims, Manager of Kansas City Scout was honored by the Kansas City Chapter of the American Public Works Association with the Professional Manager of the Year Award. The award recognizes the outstanding career service achievements of public transportation professionals. The primary focus of this award is recognition of exceptional leadership and management by an individual through a significant transportation related project or program. The award was presented to Mr. Sims, today at the National Public Works Week luncheon ceremony convened in downtown Kansas City, Missouri at the Muehlebach Tower.

Jason Sims is possibly the youngest and first African-American male to head a traffic management center of Scout’s magnitude in a major metropolitan city in the United States. As manager of Scout, the first of its kind bi-state initiative he serves as the liaison and focal point for a productive partnership between the Kansas and Missouri Departments of Transportation.

In 2007 Mr. Sims developed a concept new to the nation, combining Travel Time Messaging with Incident Messaging, what's more he created a robust Incident Management program to compliment the Travel Time Reliability project. Additionally Jason executed staffing of a 24/7 Customer Service call center and implemented Kansas City to St. Louis I-70 Corridor Messaging where Kansas City Scout staff monitors and signs for roadwork and incidents along I-70 between Kansas City and St. Louis. Mr. Sims developed partnerships with 3rd Dimension and KSHB TV launching Traffic Jam Cell Cam which provides Kansas City commuters streaming traffic video to mobile devices, this venture was the second of its kind in the nation. He also generated Data Sharing with TANN and Traffic.com.

Mr. Sims is regionally known for his personal integrity and knowledge of Intelligent Transportation Systems. His experience has prompted him to become a mentor and educator to a number of engineering professionals in the region. He is highly regarded by his staff as well as his colleagues, and known for bringing together people of diverse backgrounds in the pursuit of organizational excellence. He has a documented record of successful and innovative leadership. He is a leader in his field and has an energetic passionate approach in insisting Scout be a world class Intelligent Transportation System.

(Pictured from left to right: E. Jason Sims - Manager of Kansas City Scout with Joel Riggs - Past President of KC Chapter of APWA)