01128585

Component

This study evaluates the effects of I-35W bridge collapse on road-users in the Twin-Cities metropolitan area. The authors adopted the Twin-Cities Seven-County travel demand model developed in previous research, re-calibrated it against July 2007 loop detector traffic data, and used this model to carry out an evaluation of economic loss incurred by increased travel delay in alternative scenarios before and after the bridge collapse. The authors concluded that the failure of the I-35W bridge resulted in an economic loss of $71,000 to $220,000 a day, depending on how flexible road-users in the system can adjust their trip destinations in response to the bridge closing. The authors also estimated that the major traffic restoration projects Mn/DOT has implemented in quick response to the bridge collapse can save road-users $9,500 to $17,500 a day. This translates into a benefit-cost ratio of 2.0-9.0, suggesting these projects are highly beneficiary in an economic sense. In this analysis, the use of a simplified, scaled-down travel demand model enabled us to carry out the analysis quickly and accurately, which could see its contributions in transportation planning under situations such as emergency relief and comprehensive design.

01120148

09-1138

English

15p

2009

Transportation Research Board 88th Annual Meeting

DVD

Maps (3) ; References; Tables (2)

Benefit cost analysis; Economic factors; Economic impacts; Loop detectors; Systems analysis; Traffic data; Travel demand; Travelers

Minneapolis Bridge Collapse, 2007

Highways; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2009 Paper #09-1138

TRIS, TRB

Jan 30 2009 5:21PM