Citation

Hanbali RM. Transp. Res. Rec. 1994; 1442: 151-161.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1994, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

State and local governments spend significant amounts of both human power and money annually on snow and ice control programs. On the basis of previous studies, expenditures to counteract adverse road surface conditions during snow and icy conditions consume as much as 33% of some state highway maintenance budgets. These poor road surface conditions exist for only 4 to 8% of the total time that these roads are used. Expenditures of this magnitude have traditionally been justified through improved road user benefits, usually increased safety and decreased traffic delay. An important objective of evaluating the effectiveness of winter road maintenance operations (salting, plowing, and following a bare pavement policy) is determination of the economic impact of such operations on road users from a safety standpoint. The approach taken in evaluating the financial benefits of removing the adverse road surface conditions during snow and icy conditions is to compare the savings (benefits) to the costs expended in deriving them. It is concluded that winter road maintenance operations result in average direct savings to road users of 45 and 20 cents per vehicle kilometer of travel on two-lane highways and multilane freeways, respectively. The costs of winter road maintenance operations are offset by the benefits within the first 35 min after establishing bare pavement.

Language: en

Keywords

Accident prevention; Costs; Highway accidents; Maintenance; Roads and streets; Highway planning; Snow and ice removal; Economic and social effects