Traffic congestion is a national problem. According to the Texas Transportation Institute, the cost of congestion in 2011 was $121 billion. This figure translates into 5.5 billion hours of wasted time, 2.9 billion gallons of wasted fuel, and 56 billion pounds of carbon dioxide greenhouse gas released. The resulting delay on the trucking community was $27 billion or 22 percent of the total and $818 on the average commuter. Traffic incidents are a major source of congestion, both in urban and rural areas. Nationally, about 25 percent of total congestion can be attributed to traffic incidents. Further, traffic incidents create unexpected congestion — congestion that occurs in times and places where travellers do not expect to be delayed — and are therefore a major source of frustration for our customers. Traffic-Incident Management (TIM) is a program typically coordinated through State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and is focused on detecting, responding, and clearing traffic incidents as quickly and as safely as possible. An effective TIM program utilizes available tools such as Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and established lines of interagency communication from a strategic standpoint to reduce impacts of traffic crashes. It also incorporates tactical policies and procedures such as an incident command structure, removal laws, and quick clearance incentives. Incidents that occur on the Interstate system not only involve and impact commuters but commerce as well. On many Interstate segments, commercial vehicles are likely to be involved in an incident. Several recent crashes that have occurred in the Baton Rouge area have brought attention to the significant cost to the public, not only in terms of delay and safety, but in management, control, and mitigation by public agencies. Given a crash that blocks critical travel lanes or an entire direction for multiple hours, the cost could be enormous. Additionally, the vehicles involved in these crashes were not transporting hazardous materials or no significant injuries resulted. If hazardous material is involved, or if a serious injury or fatality occurs, the clearance procedure is complicated considerably. Since each case can vary depending on the circumstances, the clearance procedure and the delay caused can vary considerably. The purpose of this research was to determine the most effective way for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) to mitigate the impact of major incidents on Interstate freeways in the state. Applying a lane rental fee to the owner of the affected freight, similar to the way lane rental charges are levied against a road contractor, has been suggested. Properly equipping the DOTD and/or the Louisiana State Police (LSP) with appropriate resources and hold harmless legislation, referred to as authority removal law, necessary to execute quick clearance, is another possible remedial measure. Developing a solution, in terms of benefit/cost to the state, was the focus of this research. The scope of this study is limited to non-hazardous freight crash incidents on Interstate highways in Louisiana. It is also limited to incidents where no fatalities occurred. The cost of freight crash incidents is assumed to include the value of time of motorists and commercial vehicle operators as well as the cost of delay of the freight being transported. In estimating the cost of delay caused by a freight crash incident it is assumed that vehicles typically using the blocked lanes of the facility at the time at which the incident occurs are delayed for the duration of the incident as well as for the time taken for the accumulated traffic to dissipate after the incident is cleared. Thus, the fact that some vehicles may deviate to other routes or that others may not travel at that time due to knowledge of the incident is ignored. While this may inflate the cost of delay from reality it must be realized that as traffic deviates off the freeway onto alternative routes it will impose delay on vehicles already on those routes, thereby expanding the number of vehicles experiencing delay even while those leaving the freeway experience less. It is also assumed that traffic on unblocked lanes, whether they are in the same or opposite direction to the one on which the incident occurs, are not affected by the incident even though experience shows that an incident always has an effect on adjoining lanes even though they do not experience any physical obstruction. Making more accurate estimates of delay than those estimated in this study will require research beyond the scope of this study. The overall method of investigation conducted in this study was to review national practice and laws as documented in the literature, review practice in Louisiana, develop a procedure to estimate the cost of freight crash incidents dependent on their time of occurrence and duration, and then use this procedure to evaluate candidate tactics aimed at reducing the cost of freight crash incidents on freeways in the state. The individual aspects of the methodology are addressed. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting