I-35W Bridge Collapse: Travel Impacts and Adjustment Strategies
A new working paper by Nebiyou Tilahun and myself on I-35W Bridge Collapse: Travel Impacts and Adjustment Strategies is out. This study was done with another study that was in the field just after the bridge collapse, and provides new information not in previous studies. The abstract is below:
On August 1st , 2007, the I-35W bridge crossing the Mississippi river collapsed. In addition to the human tragedy that it caused, the bridge failure also impacted how people moved. The bridge on average carried 140,000 vehicles daily and the failure required a signi�cant amount of traffic �nd new routes to reach their destinations. In its aftermath travelers had to adjust their trips, requiring them to possibly adopt changes in route, mode, departure time, or foregoing some trips. Those who had to adapt were not just the ones that previously used the bridge. With the I-35 traffic using alternate routes, those who saw or anticipated higher traffic on their regular routes also found it necessary to make adjustments. In this study we ask a sample of people that were recruited for another study if their travels had been impacted by the failure of the bridge, how they coped, and what impacts it had on their other activities.
Comments
Thanks Dr. Levinson. I read some where that your studies show that most of the drivers did not see a change in their travel time after the bridge collapse when they found alternative routes for their trips. I am interested to know how and when exactly the drivers found the new routes? Do you consider the results of your bridge studies into your ongoing project with Dr. Bertini about value of reliability to test drivers’ preferences for alternate commuter routes?
Thank you again for your nice blog.
: [The study on reliability is in progress, should have results later in the year -- dml]
Posted by: Meead | September 9, 2008 5:46 AM