Analysis of Performance Measures of Traffic Incident Management in Utah

Schultz, Grant G.; Saito, Mitsuru; Eggett, Dennis L.; Bennett, Logan S; Hadfield, Mitchell G · 2019 · ROSA P / Utah. Dept. of Transportation

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Summary

This study addresses the lack of quantified evidence regarding the cost-effectiveness of Traffic Incident Management (TIM) programs, specifically within the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT). Although the Federal Highway Administration established national TIM performance standards in 2009, data collection remained limited, hindering the ability to evaluate program efficacy. The research aimed to assess data availability for calculating key performance measures—Roadway Clearance Time (RCT) and Incident Clearance Time (ICT)—and to determine the user impacts of incidents, including Excess Travel Time (ETT) and Excess User Cost (EUC). The researchers conducted a data availability assessment involving the Utah Highway Patrol (UHP) and UDOT. While UHP Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) records provided response times, roadway clearance data were initially missing. To address this, UHP personnel collected specific roadway clearance timestamps for six months (March–August 2018). The study analyzed 168 crashes to calculate performance measures for Incident Management Teams (IMT) and UHP units. A subset of 83 crashes was further evaluated using UDOT’s Performance Measurement System (PeMS) and Iteris Performance Measurement System (iPeMS) to derive traffic speed, volume, and travel time data. Statistical analyses were performed to correlate response times with clearance times and user costs, aiming to optimize IMT resource allocation. The results demonstrated that necessary data for evaluating the UDOT TIM program are available and calculable. Statistical analysis revealed significant correlations between response delays and negative outcomes: for every minute of delay in IMT response time, roadway clearance time increased by an average of 0.8 minutes, 93 additional vehicles were affected, and Excess User Cost (EUC) increased by $925. Contrary to expectations, Property Damage Only (PDO) crashes incurred a higher average EUC ($25,198) than Personal Injury (PI) crashes ($16,090). The study identified limitations, including missing timestamps in CAD records and difficulties in extracting historical lane closure data, which may affect the representativeness of the sample. The findings provide empirical evidence supporting the value of rapid incident response in reducing congestion and user costs. The study recommends that UHP continue collecting roadway clearance data and sharing crash response data with UDOT. It also suggests improving data storage formats for lane closure information to facilitate future comprehensive analyses. By establishing these metrics, the research contributes to the national TIM knowledge base and offers UDOT a framework for optimizing incident management resources based on quantified performance outcomes.

Key finding

For each minute of delay in Incident Management Team response time, roadway clearance time increases by 0.8 minutes, the number of affected vehicles rises by 93, and excess user cost increases by $925.

Methodology

dataset

Sample size: 168

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• incidence prevalence
• perception reaction time

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Applied Guidance: countermeasure evaluation
• Empirical Findings: crash risk outcomes
• Methodological Resource: dataset resource