The primary objective of the State Highway Administration (SHA) Office of Communications is to communicate to all audiences SHA's mission and activities. The Communications team's mission is to provide timely and accurate information to the public about highway projects, traffic and roadway conditions, special programs, and agency policies and achievements. In addition, office of Communications acts as a liaison between SHA and the Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary's Office / Public Affairs Office and the Governor's Press Office.

The Office of Communications is responsible for media relations, crisis communications, public affairs strategic planning and counsel, publications, community outreach, customer service, special events and employee communications for SHA offices statewide. The Office of Communications works closely with print and broadcast media, keeping the public informed and reaching as many customers as possible.

The team handles proactive efforts and approximately 40 to 50 media inquiries each week.

We also coordinate press conferences, write speeches and press releases and coordinate educational campaigns.

Our team also manages the writing and production of SHA's employee newsletter Maryland Roads. Through the newsletter, we are able to inform employees of SHA's goals and activities, as well as to motivate them and reinforce their role in customer service. We also handle grass- roots customer inquiries through public phone lines and a toll-free hotline.

One of the main functions of the Office of Communications is to inform motorists about highway construction. We generate a press release and elected official letters for every project that affects motorists. For a major projects, we produce informational brochures and attend community meetings. In addition, we serve as public information officers during emergency operations and are on-call 24 hours a day.

The Office of Communications also promotes the Coordinated Highway Action Response Team (CHART) Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) program and Statewide Operations Center (SOC) activities.