Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Traffic Advisory Stations Used for Drive-In Vaccine Guidance

TIS stations are most commonly used to alert
travelers to traffic problems ahead (Photo via
Wikimedia Commons)

Low-power AM transmitters in the Traffic Information Station, or TIS, service (also known as Highway Advisory Radio) have been repurposed in some areas to guide drivers to and through drive-in Covid vaccination sites.  

Radio World magazine reported in March on the use of TIS at Coors Field in Denver, whose parking lot had been converted into a drive-through vaccination site. 

Organizers used a rented TIS system on 1630 kHz to guide drivers through a nearly-two-mile course in which six lanes of traffic fed 16 drive-through vaccination tents, then to a holding area for their 15-minute follow-up waits to make sure no one suffered any ill effects. The site provided vaccinations to 10,000 Coloradans over a two-day period.