newjerseynewsroom.com

Logo will appear on state trucks, uniforms, highway signs

BY TOM HESTER SR.

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

For $5.4 million over three years, the state Department of Transportation is permitting the insurer State Farm to sponsor the agency’s highway Safety Service Patrol.

While the money will enable the NJDOT to now have the patrols on state and interstate highways seven days a week, the State Farm logo will appear prominently on 52 state-owned and operated patrol trucks, 120 roadside signs, on the uniforms of NJDOT employees who serve as patrol drivers, on the patrol’s web page and on the comment cards that drivers provide to assisted motorists.

The agreement is an example of public-private agreements Gov. Chris Christie wants to foster in what he sees as an effort to improve public services.

Under the terms of the contract, State Farm will provide NJDOT $1.8 million annually for three years, with two annual renewal options. All sponsorship funds will be used to support the patrol program, including safety equipment, reflective tape for patrol vehicles, brochures and comment cards.

The NJDOT launched the patrol program in 1994 with the mission to enhance safety on New Jersey roadways and reduce traffic congestion, and last year realigned it to concentrate patrol routes in areas that have demonstrated the greatest need for motorist assists. The realignment has created an opportunity to increase the patrols to seven days per week. The patrols previously operated on weekdays only with the exception of one small geographic area.

“Safety is the top priority at NJDOT,” Commissioner James Simpson said. “We are proud to team with State Farm on this joint venture that supports the Safety Service Patrol program and which creates opportunities for NJDOT to direct funding to other high-priority safety projects that will benefit New Jersey residents.”

SSP drivers patrol 225 miles of interstate and state highways throughout New Jersey, assist motorists whose vehicles have become disabled, and provide safety for emergency responders. They attempt to minimize the time a vehicle is stopped in a travel lane.

Patrol areas include route 80, 78, 280, 287,95, 295, 19, 29, 76, 676, 42 and 55.

“Part of the mission of State Farm is to help individuals recover from the unexpected,” State Farm Vice President-Agency, John Antonacci said. “As a leading automobile insurer in the Garden State, a partnership like this supports the commitment of State Farm to automobile and driver initiatives that assist motorists traveling our roadways. The goal of the Safety Service Patrol is driver and passenger safety.”

State Farm sponsors motorist-assist patrols in seven other states including New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Georgia, Florida, Indiana and Kansas.

Travelers Marketing responded to NJDOT’s November 2011 request for proposals on behalf of State Farm and was awarded the sponsorship through a competitive bid process.

The patrols operate 16 hours per day Monday through Friday and 10 hours per day Saturdays and Sundays, providing approximately 70,000 motorist assists per year. Patrol assistance includes changing a flat tire, pushing a disabled vehicle off to the shoulder, pulling a vehicle stuck in mud or snow back onto the road, providing a small amount of gasoline and making minor repairs. SSP trucks are also dispatched to crash scenes and coordinates efforts with the State Police to create safe zones for emergency responders to work within.

The patrol program operates on an annual budget of approximately $6 million. Approximately 70 NJDOT employees staff the program as drivers. There is never a charge to motorists for the services provided, and SSP drivers are prohibited from accepting tips.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, welcomed the agreement.

"I want to join with the New Jersey Department of Transportation in welcoming State Farm's sponsorship of the department's Safety Service Patro,” Wisniewski said. ”I was proud to have sponsored the legislation that authorized this partnership and to have worked with the company to shepherd it through the Legislature. At a time when the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund's gas tax revenue is fully dedicated to debt service and the state must rely on additional borrowing, higher tolls and increasing general revenues to fund our transportation infrastructure, New Jersey must be creative in pursuing any and every opportunity to generate revenue for our transportation needs."