TMC

[everybodygoes 331]

Anyone know someone who works there? I spoke to a female dispatcher yesterday who was mildly retarded at best. I called to report a disable vehicle practically in front of the building, this woman asked me for a mile marker, after she sensed my displeasure with the response, look out the window she made a quick exit. How can these people NOT know where the Taconic meets the Bronx River?!?!

[JJB531 652]

Anyone know someone who works there? I spoke to a female dispatcher yesterday who was mildly retarded at best. I called to report a disable vehicle practically in front of the building, this woman asked me for a mile marker, after she sensed my displeasure with the response, look out the window she made a quick exit. How can these people NOT know where the Taconic meets the Bronx River?!?!

How about just answering her question instead of giving her a hard time... is it really that big of a deal that you had to run on here to post tihs "horrible" experience you had? Did you ever consider maybe she was new?

[Firemn2742A 14]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with TMC. I have called them with the same type of report and never had a problem. BTW that is NOT the Taconic and the BRP split. BRP doesnt start until way down by the Kensico Dam near Virginia Road. Lower Taconic Parkway is several miles south of the area of the TMC on the Sprain Brook Pkwy.

I do understand your frustration dispatchers should and can assist callers by knowing buildings ,, certainly the building she was sitting in lol.

Edited January 28, 2012 by Firemn2742A

[JJB531 652]

BTW that is NOT the Taconic and the BRP split. BRP doesnt start until way down by the Kensico Dam near Virginia Road. Lower Taconic Parkway is several miles south of the area of the TMC on the Sprain Brook Pkwy.

Good point, like you said that actually isn't the split. That exit off the Taconic leads you from the TSP to the Lower Taconic, which then merges in to the Bronx River Parkway down by the Kensico Dam. Guess it was a good thing she was asking for that mile marker before she sent someone looking for a disabled in the location you gave her (Taconic/BRP split), which was actually the wrong location.

[helicopper 1,050]

Anyone know someone who works there? I spoke to a female dispatcher yesterday who was mildly retarded at best. I called to report a disable vehicle practically in front of the building, this woman asked me for a mile marker, after she sensed my displeasure with the response, look out the window she made a quick exit. How can these people NOT know where the Taconic meets the Bronx River?!?!

Are you talking about by the Kensico Circle or by the Hawthorne interchange??? Maybe she knows exactly where the Taconic meets the Bronx River but wanted to make sure that you knew where you actually were. Asking for a mile marker narrows the "search area" dramatically because people call reporting that they're on the Sprain at the NYC line or the Bronx River Parkway at Jackson Avenue quite often. Sounds like it was a reasonable follow-up question to me.

What's the big deal?

[NOZ45ZLE 42]

Could Some One Explain What The TMC exactly IS and what they do and who its is run by ? Thanks

[JJB531 652]

Could Some One Explain What The TMC exactly IS and what they do and who its is run by ? Thanks

Traffic Management Center... believe it's run by the State Department of Transportation, responsible for traffic conditions on the highways (MVA's, Disabled Vehicles, Lane Closures for various reasons, etc.)

Hudson Valley TMC Website

[helicopper 1,050]

They're also the cellular 911 answering point for the County and the dispatch center for State Police in Westchester and for local PD's where the State Police patrol. The TMC handles dispatch for the HELP trucks on roads patrolled by the SP also.

[INIT915 1,119]

Anyone know someone who works there? I spoke to a female dispatcher yesterday who was mildly retarded at best. I called to report a disable vehicle practically in front of the building, this woman asked me for a mile marker, after she sensed my displeasure with the response, look out the window she made a quick exit. How can these people NOT know where the Taconic meets the Bronx River?!?!

Well, given your own admission that you were breaking her chops, I couldn't possibly imagine why she didn't bend over backwards for you. Did you tell her on the call she was "mildly retarded"? If you did, you should probably call and apologize, as your description of the location was wrong. I wonder, does that make you "mildly retarded" for giving an imprecise location?

Now that I think about it, the TMC would have to be, what, eight stories high to actually see where the Taconic/BRP interchange is? So, if she did take an elevator to the eighth floor (which doesn't actually exist), then maybe, yes, she should have been able to see the Kensico Dam and the location you were giving her.

Now, if you told her the location was where the Taconic meets the Sprain, you'd be onto something! Because that's the interchange which is right in front of the TMC.

[Bnechis 3,961]

look out the window she made a quick exit. How can these people NOT know where the Taconic meets the Bronx River?!?!

1) There are no windows in the section of the TMC she works in.

2) While the SP can enter and exit the sprain directly into the TMC. The dispatchers have to get off in Hawthorne and drive about a mile and enter from the "local" street side, so they never "see" the highway from the building.

3) I looked at 2 different maps, one shows the BRP meets the Taconic by the Hawthorne interchange, the other calls that section of BRP between the Kensico Circle and the Hawthorne interchange the Taconic making the intersection at the kensico circle. The location that you were reporting is actually 2 different locations that are 2.6 miles apart.

[helicopper 1,050]

3) I looked at 2 different maps, one shows the BRP meets the Taconic by the Hawthorne interchange, the other calls that section of BRP between the Kensico Circle and the Hawthorne interchange the Taconic making the intersection at the kensico circle. The location that you were reporting is actually 2 different locations that are 2.6 miles apart.

Just out of curiosity, which map has it wrong? The Bronx River Parkway terminates at the Kensico Circle and the Taconic State Parkway begins there.

Now for more stupid highway trivia, anyone know why there are mile markers on the TSP from the Kensico Circle to the Dutchess/Columbia County lines but none from there to the interchange with I-90? That part of the Taconic is remote enough that you could actually use them because exits are often miles apart.

[20y2 43]

This thread is priceless and goes to show that we all THINK we know how to do each other's job, when in reality we most certainly don't. The thread started dropped a bomb, was proven wrong numerous times and now didn't chime back in to admit he was wrong. Priceless.

[everybodygoes 331]

Sorry I shouldn't expect someone to know their job or the locale they work, or the fact that saying you would need to access this point from either 9a entrance to the TSP or from P'ville road. Same thing happens when you call NYC 911, you get some dope who asks you for an exit number, sorry, 233 st is not exact enough for you? Yet another reason I usually never call to initiate help for people. And just note that the prior times calling all the MEN I spoke to were professional as could be!

[INIT915 1,119]

Sorry I shouldn't expect someone to know their job or the locale they work, or the fact that saying you would need to access this point from either 9a entrance to the TSP or from P'ville road. Same thing happens when you call NYC 911, you get some dope who asks you for an exit number, sorry, 233 st is not exact enough for you? Yet another reason I usually never call to initiate help for people. And just note that the prior times calling all the MEN I spoke to were professional as could be!

Way to double-down and not just admit you made a mistake. So, if I understand you right, calltakers/dispatchers who try to get precise locations of incidents being called in are either "mildly retarded" or "dopes"? And males are better dispatchers then females?

I can only speak for myself, but I appreciate when communications personnel do their best to get good info from callers. It saves time, manpower, and aggravation in running down bad leads because callers are too inept, lazy, or just unable to provide good information. I'm also glad calltakers also realize that even those "on the job" can and do make mistakes, so taking their word as gospel without taking basic steps to confirm it is malfeasance. And some of the best dispatchers I know are female, so, I'm not sure what gender has to do with it.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

Sorry I shouldn't expect someone to know their job or the locale they work, or the fact that saying you would need to access this point from either 9a entrance to the TSP or from P'ville road. Same thing happens when you call NYC 911, you get some dope who asks you for an exit number, sorry, 233 st is not exact enough for you? Yet another reason I usually never call to initiate help for people. And just note that the prior times calling all the MEN I spoke to were professional as could be!

Kind of hard to know the locale you work in if you are from anywhere from Long Island to Orange, Columbia or pick any county north, west and south of Westchester. I know Troopers assigned to TMC that live in Long Island. Not to mention that they answers calls from all over the county and cellular 911. It also may be the simple fact that the program they use for the dispatching software wouldn't take the location as you said it or came up as invalid. Maybe your right...perhaps we should just hire Men like the 1930's and all the problems will disappear. Sounds like to me she was trying to do her job and get more information as that whole area and interchange can be complicated and 9 times out of 10 the caller doesn't know precisely where they are. I wonder though...if someone was giving you an attitude or a tone that you can sense an attitude exactly how you would respond.

[Just a guy 493]

Whenever I am off duty and happen to be driving on the highways and I see that needs to be called in, I always grab a mile marker to give them when I call. It makes it easier for everyone involved and if you have ever listened to the thruway authority and the thruway troopers on the radio, 99 % of the calls begin with the roadway, mile marker, and direction.

I called the TMC a few weeks ago and the call taker asked me more questions than were on the last sergeants test but it is what it is, if that's their protocol then so be it, I have no problem with it.

[Firemn2742A 14]

Dispatching / Calltaking is a very stressful job. I don't want to change this topic but many examples come to mind that make me think of help not arriving because information was not received.

I have received calls from people saying "Could you let me in the building , I am right outside." Turns out the person is standing two counties a way, outside a different police department with the same name. Other callers perhaps from another state say "I'm on the Thruway near the tolls" Turns out they are on the New England Thruway (I-95) not (I-87) NY State Thruway.

I think the New York State Thruway Authority takes calls in one room up in Albany. I understand this is not the case here but answering all the questions for the dispatcher is important. Male or female I know dispatchers that try hard to get the job done.

Communication is key. Sender and receiver. Drawing information out of callers can be very difficult. People stay just send them , "Dont ask me questions", "You know where I am" , "Over Here" The list goes on...

Be Safe , be part of the process.

Edited January 28, 2012 by Firemn2742A

[everybodygoes 331]

Im not admitting I was wrong cause I wasn't. I am driving a car, reporting a dangerous situation, not sitting in an office. I am attempting to do something much more important for my own safety than someone else's. Sorry for my selfishness. The van was about a quarter mile south from the 9A entrance to the Taconic in the Southbound lane, how much more exact can I be? The road is three lanes wide and the mile marker is in the right lane. Had I called and spoke to a Trooper they would have said no problem as they would actually know where I was talking about. I guess all of you just assume you should get the bottom of the barrel and when you don't you should be pleasantly surprised. When you call an FDNY dispatcher and report anything they know what you are talking about, cause they know the area, streets, companies, pct's, probably even know the CON ED supervisor that covers the area. This person was useless. And please identify where it is you work that you have such superior dispatching. Half the time I listen to the radio locally the only good ones I hear are ones that do it in house, not out of some central unit with the exception of the Putnam County Sheriff.

[INIT915 1,119]

Im not admitting I was wrong cause I wasn't. I am driving a car, reporting a dangerous situation, not sitting in an office. I am attempting to do something much more important for my own safety than someone else's. Sorry for my selfishness. The van was about a quarter mile south from the 9A entrance to the Taconic in the Southbound lane, how much more exact can I be? The road is three lanes wide and the mile marker is in the right lane. Had I called and spoke to a Trooper they would have said no problem as they would actually know where I was talking about. I guess all of you just assume you should get the bottom of the barrel and when you don't you should be pleasantly surprised. When you call an FDNY dispatcher and report anything they know what you are talking about, cause they know the area, streets, companies, pct's, probably even know the CON ED supervisor that covers the area. This person was useless. And please identify where it is you work that you have such superior dispatching. Half the time I listen to the radio locally the only good ones I hear are ones that do it in house, not out of some central unit with the exception of the Putnam County Sheriff.

Mile Post Markers:

First, you claimed that you referenced to the calltaker the Taconic/BRP Interchange which is MPM 0.00 on the Taconic. Simultaneously, it is MPM 19.12 on the Bronx River Parkway.

Then you claimed that it was right in front of the TMC which is MPM 12.62 on the Sprain Brook Parkway, NOT the Taconic. The Lower Taconic branches off before reaching the TMC.

Now, you claim it was a quarter mile south of the 9A ramp, which could reference EITHER the 141/9A Interchange located at MPM 2.87 on the Taconic OR the newer 9A ramp which is located at MPM 4.67 on the Taconic. Now, you say a quarter mile south of that, which would put you at MPM 4.42 (from the new ramp) OR MPM 2.62 (from the 141/9A ramp). Now the second one would put you on the Lower Taconic.

Now, this whole time, this calltaker is probably thinking to herself "...well, he can't mean the Taconic at all, now can he, because the TMC is on the Sprain, not the Taconic. Maybe if he gives me the MPM, I'll know exactly where he is, so I don't have a Trooper driving all over the place looking for this van!..." So she asks you for the MPM to help clarify things, but at this point, you've decided she's too "mildly retarded" and it all goes down hill from there. Did I get that about right?

See how just reading the next MPM you saw could have avoided all this confusion? You can try to spin this all you want, but it seems obvious to me (and others here) that her follow-up question was reasonable, and not really anything you should have gotten angry over.

Any dispatchers here agree/disagree? Maybe JBE, will chime in. Asking for a MPM a reasonable follow-up question?

[dadbo46 50]

Traffic Management Center... believe it's run by the State Department of Transportation, responsible for traffic conditions on the highways (MVA's, Disabled Vehicles, Lane Closures for various reasons, etc.)

Hudson Valley TMC Website

Not quite. It is the Transportation Management Center.

[helicopper 1,050]

Anyone know someone who works there? I spoke to a female dispatcher yesterday who was mildly retarded at best. I called to report a disable vehicle practically in front of the building, this woman asked me for a mile marker, after she sensed my displeasure with the response, look out the window she made a quick exit. How can these people NOT know where the Taconic meets the Bronx River?!?!

Sorry I shouldn't expect someone to know their job or the locale they work, or the fact that saying you would need to access this point from either 9a entrance to the TSP or from P'ville road. Same thing happens when you call NYC 911, you get some dope who asks you for an exit number, sorry, 233 st is not exact enough for you? Yet another reason I usually never call to initiate help for people. And just note that the prior times calling all the MEN I spoke to were professional as could be!

Im not admitting I was wrong cause I wasn't. I am driving a car, reporting a dangerous situation, not sitting in an office. I am attempting to do something much more important for my own safety than someone else's. Sorry for my selfishness. The van was about a quarter mile south from the 9A entrance to the Taconic in the Southbound lane, how much more exact can I be? The road is three lanes wide and the mile marker is in the right lane. Had I called and spoke to a Trooper they would have said no problem as they would actually know where I was talking about. I guess all of you just assume you should get the bottom of the barrel and when you don't you should be pleasantly surprised. When you call an FDNY dispatcher and report anything they know what you are talking about, cause they know the area, streets, companies, pct's, probably even know the CON ED supervisor that covers the area. This person was useless. And please identify where it is you work that you have such superior dispatching. Half the time I listen to the radio locally the only good ones I hear are ones that do it in house, not out of some central unit with the exception of the Putnam County Sheriff.

You've described five or six different locations in your rant about a call-taker/dispatcher being thorough and querying you about where you were so she could send help to the right place. That doesn't make her mildly retarded or the bottom of the barrel. It means she was doing her job, just a like any other dispatcher should. I'm not sure why this annoyed you so much but I've been on both ends of the phone and radio in all kinds of situations and nothing is worse than sending resources (or responding) to the wrong location because of incomplete/inaccurate information. Perhaps if you were a little more patient and articulated things more clearly than you did in this thread it would have been a shorter call because if you were on the phone with me and gave five locations I'd keep you on the phone and keep trying to narrow it down too.

I don't know what you consider a "good dispatcher" because I've heard the good the bad and the ugly from local, do-it-yourself dispatch centers and I've heard the same from regional centers. It all depends on training, experience, protocols, and supervision.

Talking to a trooper may or may not have been any better because he (or she if you'd stoop to talking to a female) may not be any more local than the dispatcher is.

Another point of clarification, the Putnam County Sheriff is not Putnam County 911 so if you're asserting that Putnam 911 does a good job you're thanking the wrong agency. But you're right. Putnam 911 does a good job because of the above.

[JetPhoto 626]

"But I got GPS on my phone, I thought you people could see where I am!"

[Reliance 29]

"But I got GPS on my phone, I thought you people could see where I am!"

That is only as good as the satellite picking up the signal. That also only works if you have a CAD/CAM system which I don't have. I have been on both ends of the phone. I work in a dispatcher center that looks after 25 fire departments and the mile markers come in handy on the highways especially when someone does not know the area or sees a good landmark.

[Bnechis 3,961]

there are mile markers on the TSP from the Kensico Circle to the Dutchess/Columbia County lines but none from there to the interchange with I-90? That part of the Taconic is remote enough that you could actually use them because exits are often miles apart.

I know Troopers assigned to TMC that live in Long Island. Not to mention that they answers calls from all over the county and cellular 911. It also may be the simple fact that the program they use for the dispatching software wouldn't take the location as you said it or came up as invalid.

Im not admitting I was wrong cause I wasn't. Had I called and spoke to a Trooper they would have said no problem as they would actually know where I was talking about.

Talking to a trooper may or may not have been any better because he (or she if you'd stoop to talking to a female) may not be any more local than the dispatcher is.

How do you know that the call taker was in the TMC? Do you know that the roll over system means any NYSP answering point can pick up the call?

About 2 years ago I was coming back from a meeting with DOH in Troy. I was on the upper section of the Taconic and as I came over the top of a hill and made a panic stop as their was a car vs. deer in the roadway. The spot was blind and I was able to back up on the grass and establish a safe zone (I was in a dept car) by closing the lane and slowing down traffic. The driver was uninjured, and the car could not be moved. I called 911 and as the MALE TROOPER was asking for location info I realized that other than being southbound on the TSP about 20 minutes drive south of I-90, I could not remember any exits & there were no mile markers. The Trooper asked a bunch of questions but that did not help. Then I started to descibe what I could see: On the north bound side there was a scenic overlook and in the median there was a tall stone wall that from all the tire tracks it was clear the the local troopers used it to sit for a speed trap. I told him this and he said, sorry that does not help as he had never worked the TSP and that he was in Tonawanda (near Buffalo).

[Guest alsfirefighter]

Besides the prejudicial tone of one of your posts and now the addition of yet another location....and I know the area as I drive it several times a week...I'd probably had asked you a bunch of questions as well. No one said you were wrong for what you were attempting to do. Your wrong for ringing someone who was apparently attempting to do their job.

[JJB531 652]

Not quite. It is the Transportation Management Center.

Traffic Management Center is the NYC term for TMC, hence my description of TMC since that's what I'm accustomed to...

[ustadoit 13]

heyyyyyyyyyyy

I don't blame anybody for being lost in the area of the TMC. when you're southbound on the Taconic and approach the split, 2 different signs seem to indicate that you're getting on the bronx river parkway. There is a sign (very popular with vandals, thieves, spinning cars, and/or overzealous DOT lawnmowers) that is occasionally displayed in the first half mile or so indicating that you are still on the TSP after following the signs for the BRP. A further source of confusion occurs because the sprain brook and the Bronx river parkways eventually do interchange - in Yonkers.

The DOT has a history of misleading signs; a number of years ago they were written up in the paper for some crazy mileage quotes. Did you ever go east on route 35 from route 100 and try to follow the very large sign telling you that your second left turn takes you to 684 north? try taking that second left....

Now that I mentioned route 35 (in somers?) I recall an incident a few years ago where a 60 control dispatcher had a different name for that road that they are required to use.

I like 60-control dispatchers, for about the first 90 seconds of a telephone call. their required list of questions gets a little annoying.

I have a friend that worked at the TMC who is competent, able to communicate, and has good local knowledge.(possibly the only such person) I enjoy telling this person some of the funnier episodes from dealing with them, like when they were trying to tell me that a call was in my jurisdiction because their caller thought so ( I kept transferring it back to TMC, they kept trying to give it back)even though it was miles away. I suggested that they could try calling their state senator or assemblyman to explain their uh, joy. I also enjoyed having to tell a TMC dispatcher that a traffic circle is round.......

I was speculating once about what their personnel problem stemmed from, and it was confirmed to me that the following scenario is not too far off:

A welfare momma in ?Queens? comes across a job announcement for a state job. minimal qualifications, maybe a test? they apply and get the job.Great! One more taxpayer. They end up getting assigned to ?Manage Transportation?! at the TMC in hawthorne, despite having no local knowledge,no polce experience, no car, no driving experience or license, and they take trains and buses (which don't use the parkway system) to get to work.

I can also relate to the comments about mile markers, but I had a bad experience a few weeks ago.

I was driving west on route 119 leaving white plains and entering Greenburgh and got on the ramp from 119 to 287, west. A car in front of me suddenly veered into the curb as the front suspension of the car collapsed as one or more of those "arms" things broke -pittman, idler, rocker? The female operator then had one of her young children get out of the car to look at the front end.

Knowing that the "service by permit only" sign 200 yards back was going to make this a Thruway problem, I called TMC to get connected to nysp troop t. I reached a dispatcher for troop T who apparently did not know where the above location was, had never heard of white plains or greenburgh, refused to acknowledge that she might have access to a map, refused to dispatch anybody to help and refused to believe that there are no mile posts on the exit or entrance ramp. she refused to state where she was, which was a topic that came up when i pointed out that these were state highways in new york and I thought I had called a new york agency. you can only hand some people so much.....

[prucha25 76]

So I had to call 911 to report a driver going the wrong way on 9A this evening who almost hit me. Talked to the dispatcher at TMC who was very informative, and helpful, oh and guess what.....it was a Woman.

[velcroMedic1987 330]

This has to be one of the most asinine threads on Bravo in a long time. Way to hit rock bottom!

[Billy 68]

Sorry I shouldn't expect someone to know their job or the locale they work, or the fact that saying you would need to access this point from either 9a entrance to the TSP or from P'ville road. Same thing happens when you call NYC 911, you get some dope who asks you for an exit number, sorry, 233 st is not exact enough for you? Yet another reason I usually never call to initiate help for people. And just note that the prior times calling all the MEN I spoke to were professional as could be!

Dude I think you should just give up now and not say anymore...you're not making things better....