SDOT Response Team

“Safely Clearing Roads and Helping People”

What We Do

Our Response Team helps keep traffic moving by clearing debris and vehicles blocking city streets; by helping motorists; and by working with police, firefighters, and other partners.

This helps keep our streets clear and operating efficiently. By promptly removing debris in the street, moving vehicles out of the traffic lane after a crash or collision, assisting stranded motorists, providing emergency traffic control for incidents and responding to issues with traffic signals, our Response Team (SRT) clears blockages and prevents traffic backups 24/7.

This is another example of SDOT making the most of our finite street space. WSDOT's Incident Response Team (IRT) has provided incident response on state highways for years, yet Seattle is one of only a few American cities to provide these services on city streets.

Smart Investment to Help Keep Our Streets Clear

The City recently invested in three additional SRT trucks and increased staff so we can provide SRT service twenty-four hours per day. We now have five trucks in the SRT fleet, which allows us to operate two trucks during the day shift, two trucks on the afternoon shift and one truck on the overnight shift. When needed, we can deploy even more trucks and team members to help keep traffic moving.

One minute of traffic backup can create four to ten minutes of delay, especially because one crash or collision can cause secondary collisions. Therefore, around-the-clock SRT services are a cost-effective investment to help our transportation system run effectively.

Special Equipment and Tools

The Seattle Response Team provides many services because our members receive specific training and each SRT truck is equipped with a battery of tools to accomplish many jobs. First off, each truck has a large, retractable variable message board to provide vital information to drivers. We also use battery jump starters, gasoline for cars which run out of fuel, tow ropes, traffic cones to direct traffic around crashes or collisions, fluorescent pink warning signs, various saws to clear tree limbs on the street, spill absorbent material, fire extinguishers, jacks to change flat tires, and more. We even carry GoJaks - devices which allow one person to lift a car’s tires off the ground and push the car out of the way.

You could say that our SRT trucks are the swiss army knives of traffic incident response. More details on our equipment.

Working With Partners

SRT members are our first responders to clear our streets of incidents. At incidents we also work in partnership with first responders from the Seattle Police Department and the Seattle Fire Department. By clearing streets and guiding traffic around an incident, our partners from SPD and SFD can be safe and can focus on what they do best. This also helps to reduce backups and to keep traffic moving.

Also, SRT is part of the Traffic Incident Management (TIM) Program, which is a network of agencies that work together to clear incidents as quickly, safely and efficiently as possible. A key role for the SRT is to coordinate with our Traffic Operations Center (TOC) to share information with the public about traffic incidents and detours.

Florescent Pink = Incident

If you see a pink flourecent warning sign on the road, that means there is an incident ahead. The Federal Highway Administration established this bright color for signs indicating an incident so the public can distinguish incident warnings from the familiar orange construction signs.

One way to remember this is that when you see pink, think compassion, because someone is involved in an incident up ahead.