Investigating the Impact of Rain on Crash-Clearance Duration
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 146, Issue 11
Abstract
Crashes are one of the major causes of traffic delays. It is therefore essential to clear crashes as quickly as possible. However, adverse weather conditions, especially rainy conditions, could potentially influence crash clearance duration. This study aimed at evaluating the effect of rainy conditions on the clearance duration of crashes on freeways. The specific objectives were (1) to estimate the duration of rainfall during the crash clearance time, and (2) to evaluate the impact of crash-related, spatiotemporal, and responding agencies’ attributes on the crash clearance time during rainy conditions. The analysis was based on 2014–2016 crash data and hourly rain data on a network of freeways in Jacksonville, Florida. The study estimated the rainfall duration during the crash clearance time. Hazard-based models and bootstrap resampling method were used to investigate factors that influence the crash clearance time. The results indicated that the level of the impact of a crash, the rainfall duration, the time of day, and the day of the week significantly affect crash clearance time during rainy conditions. The study results can assist incident management agencies in advancing strategies to reduce crash clearance time during adverse weather conditions.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. The available information is the analysis code.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Graduate Assistantship programs at Florida International University and the University of North Florida.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 146 • Issue 11 • November 2020
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 24, 2020
Accepted: Jul 13, 2020
Published online: Sep 9, 2020
Published in print: Nov 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Feb 9, 2021
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