Maryland's CHART Program Aids Millionth Motorist
According to MDOT, CHART assists a motorist every 15 minutes, 24/7, saving drivers $1.5 billion in the cost of delays and 43.6 million hours of delays.
The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration's Coordinated Highway Action Response Team (CHART) recently assisted its 1 millionth driver on Maryland highways, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced. He thanked the program's employees, adding, "This is an incredible milestone for our state and it would not be possible without the dedication of those who work 24/7 to support their fellow citizens. We thank them for their commitment to our administration's Customer Service Promise."
Hogan made the announcement at a meeting of the Board of Public Works. MDOT reported that, during the past 27 years, CHART has helped approximately 635,000 motorists and responded to more than 365,000 traffic incidents as of December 2017. During 2016, CHART emergency patrols assisted more than 42,000 people.
The program is one of the oldest statewide traffic incident management and motorist assistance programs in the country; its Statewide Operations Center opened in 1995, but the program itself began as a "Reach the Beach" effort to improve travel to Maryland's Eastern Shore in the 1980s.
According to MDOT, CHART assists a motorist every 15 minutes, 24/7, saving drivers $1.5 billion in the cost of delays and 43.6 million hours of delays.