Transportation Operation and Communications Centers (TOCC)

Project Description

Minnesota’s Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) and the Minnesota State Patrol (MSP) have implemented a network of nine Transportation Operation and Communication Centers (TOCCs). The goal of these centers was to establish an integrated statewide communication and transportation operations network serving rural and the smaller urban areas outside the Twin Cities metro area.

The individual TOCCs act as regional centers for 24-hour incident and emergency response, including cellular 911 calls, multi-agency dispatching and fleet management, interagency communications, collection and dissemination of road conditions and closures, traffic management, and, potentially, integrated transit operations. TOCCs are geographically distributed at MSP dispatch centers around Minnesota with Virginia, Baxter and Thief River Falls in the north, Detroit Lakes, St. Cloud, and Duluth in the center part of the state, and Marshall, Mankato, and Rochester located in the south.

The TOCCs were built around a framework of proactive interagency cooperation, updated facilities and technologies, and enhanced voice and data communications to improve Mn/DOT and MSP operational effectiveness and to improve the overall safety and efficiency of the transportation system in Minnesota.

TOCC facilities have upgraded in the centers.  The new facilities included a statewide computer-aided dispatch/automated vehicle location system, new radio consoles, workstations, uninterrupted power supplies, and digital radio and telephone recorders.   In Rochester, Mankato, Duluth, and St. Cloud, the TOCC’s serve as operational centers for advanced transportation management systems, which include traffic cameras and variable message signs.