GDOT’s roadside helpers return to 24/7 service

The highway helpers who patrol metro Atlanta’s interstates will return to 24/7 service on Tuesday, just in time for the busy holiday weekend.

Highway Emergency Response Operators have helped stranded motorists since 1994, but staffing issues led the Georgia Department of Transportation to scale back both service hours and the patrol area two years ago.

The HERO crews, as they’re known, will return to patrolling nearly 400 miles of interstates across the broader Atlanta metro. Their primary focus is clearing roadways after traffic incidents, but they also offer free roadside assistance to drivers with flat tires, dead batteries and other minor mechanical issues.

Every minute a lane is blocked results in a four- to seven-minute delay for drivers, according to GDOT. Traffic crash scenes are cleared, on average, about five minutes faster when HERO crews help.

In 2024, HERO crews cleared scenes in an average of 29 minutes, according to data provided by GDOT. Scenes where HERO crews didn’t assist were cleared in about 34 minutes.

“HEROs are our first and best resource to keep traffic moving safely and efficiently in metro Atlanta,” GDOT Commissioner Russell McMurry said in a statement.