Incorporating Historical Incident Data into Incident Detection and Performance Measures at Texas Transportation Management Centers

This project describes how several Transportation Management Centers (TMC) in Texas routinely collect data and report summary statistics related to their incident management programs. While these historical data can be used to quantify the magnitude of incident problem and to compute certain performance measures, relatively little has been done to incorporate these data into improving the efficiency of the incident detection and management process. In this project, we are proposing to examine what and how historical data are being collected and how they can be used to improve incident detection and management at TMCs. Through this research, we will develop methods and techniques for incorporating historical data for: (1) identifying incident prone locations; (2) improving incident detection; (3) estimating incident duration in real-time based on the observed characteristics of the incident, and current traffic and environmental conditions; (4) estimating the travel time, delay, and other impacts of incidents; and (5) generating practical and meaningful performance reports. This project will produce an easy-to-use guidebook which provides step-by-step instructions for applying historical data for these purposes. The effectiveness of these procedures will be evaluated and documented through case studies.