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Freeway Service Patrols Survey
From The Urban Transportation Monitor
May 29, 1999 Newsletter
This following pages are a reprint of a survey printed in The
Urban Transportation Monitor's May 28, 1999 newsletter.
The information provided consisted of a list of contact and
organization names of those polled, as well as the survey itself
(see side buttons.) Since the survey is lengthy, it is
separated into 5 pages. To easily print out the survey results, go
to the Survey - Print page.
Editorial
-- from The Urban
Transportation Monitor
This week's survey is on Freeway Service Patrols. The
Urban Transportation Monitor conduced a similar survey on
Freeway Service Patrols in 1992. At that time, 11 active
patrols were identified. Although this is more than double, a
considerable increase, the total number of patrols is still
disappointingly low considering the valuable service they provide.
Our survey results show that the various patrols that responded to
the survey provided an average of 53,000 assists per year.
This is nearly 2,000 assists per vehicle pre year. Since most
patrols operate on weekdays, every patrol vehicle assists an average
of about 8 motorists each day. The services they provide are
invaluable -- quick repairs, directing traffic, medical assistance,
providing fuel and oil, clearing debris, to name a few.
One of the most recent published reports ("Performance and
Benefit Evaluation of CHART Incident Management Program" -- Maryland
Department of Transportation) regarding the benefits of incident
management (in which freeway service patrols play a significant
role) concluded that the incident management program reduced the
blockage duration from incidents by 36%. This translates to a
reduction in highway user delay time of about 42,000 hours per
incident.
These statistics show that incident management, and more
specifically freeway service patrols, provide an extremely valuable
service. They should be expanded where they are currently
operating and they should be implemented in more urban areas in the
U.S.
Daniel B. Rathbone
Editor/Publisher
Freeway Service Patrols
The Urban Transportation Monitor earlier this
month conducted a survey on freeway service patrols.
Survey questionnaires were faxed to 23 organizations that manage
freeway service patrols in the U.S. Eighteen completed
questionnaires were returned.
Results of the survey are published in two parts.
Part I appears here and Part II will appear in the next issue of
The Urban Transportation Monitor.
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