The Highway Emergency Response Operators (HERO) program is a freeway service patrol operated in metro Atlanta, United States by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). It is a part of the GDOT's Office of Traffic Operations. Both the program and the individual vehicles are typically referred to by the bacronym HERO. History The program began in Atlanta in 1994 as the city prepared for the 1996 Olympics and has since been expanded with GDOT's 511 Navigator Intelligent Transportation System program. The HERO unit's primary purpose is to minimize traffic congestion by clearing wrecked or disabled vehicles from the travel lanes and providing traffic control at incident scenes. As a secondary service, HERO operates as a service patrol; assisting stranded motorists who have a flat tire, are out of fuel, or are stranded by a mechanical failure of their vehicle. In addition to their normal patrol duties in metro Atlanta, HERO is deployed to assist with traffic control at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia and along Interstates 16, 75, and 95 during hurricane evacuations. HERO Operators are GDOT employees, distinguishing the program from freeway service patrols in other states, such as California, which are operated under contract by private tow truck companies. The HERO day is split into four shifts: Alpha (morning), Bravo (afternoon), Charlie (weekend) and Delta (overnight). HERO operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Typically, HERO and CHAMP Operators work between 75,000 and 80,000 incidents per year. In Georgia, motorists needing HERO or CHAMP assistance dial 511 (and press 1) to reach the Traffic Management Center, GDOT's primary center for incident management. 511 is also the number for general traffic information throughout the state of Georgia. State Farm began sponsoring the program in 2009 during state budget constraints. The HERO Unit now operates independent of state funding receiving its funds from the State Farm sponsorship, 511 sign sponsors, and Federal Highway funding. In February 2017, GDOT expanded it to east Georgia with the Coordinated Highway Assistance & Maintenance Program (CHAMP), which performs all of the HERO functions, in addition to monitoring for any maintenance needs along rural state roads. It began at first by covering I-20 east from metro Atlanta to the state line including I-520 around Augusta, and the middle of I-16 around Dublin. The CHAMP program expand statewide in May 2017. Fleet The HERO fleet consists of the Ford F450 utility box configuration