Citation

Urbanek GL, Tignor SC. Transp. Res. Rec. 1978; 682: 103-105.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1978, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper presents a methodology that may be useful for planning low-cost management techniques for reducing nonrecurrent traffic delays and congestion caused by freeway incidents. In the past, these problems have been attacked through implementation of systems that use electronic loop detectors and closed-circuit television: however, such solutions are so expensive that they are feasible for only the largest freeway systems. The alternative methodology components include estimation of: total incident rate; delay-causing incidents; detection, response, and clearance times; and total delay. After the total delay has been quantified and computed, the final step of the methodology involves examining the potential low-cost freeway incident management options available and developing system solutions to reduce nonrecurrent delay. About 30 options have been developed to solve various aspects of the problem. These options have been classified into four major categories: surveillance options, which include actions such as increasing frequency of police patrols and monitoring citizen band radio to capture incident information; administrative options, which are interagency activities intended to improve the ability of an agency to fulfill its present incident management role or to expand that role to include new activities; organizational options, which may involve several agencies and seek to facilitate the cooperative effort that characterizes a successful incident management system; and preplanning options, which are designed to prepare an agency and other participating agencies and their personnel for the eventuality of an incident that requires their resources.