Incident Response - Economic benefit

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Cost and economic benefit from IR program

WSDOT IR teams' assistance at incidents results in millions of dollars in economic benefit to travelers and businesses in Washington by reducing congestion caused by traffic incidents and helping prevent secondary incidents.

The cost of incident induced delay is the economic impact that occurred due to incidents. WSDOT estimates the cost of delay at $244 ($333 in 2023 value) per minute of incident duration for non-blocking incidents and $345 ($483 in 2024 value) per minute of blocking incidents based on research from the University of Washington's Transportation Center (TRAC)(PDF 2.2MB).

WSDOT estimates the economic benefit of the IR program based on the amount of incident-induced delay and secondary incidents prevented through the intervention of IR teams assisting at incident scenes. For details on the methodology used to calculate economic benefit, refer to WSDOT's Handbook for Corridor Capacity Evaluation (PDF 5.9MB).

Source: Washington Incident Tracking System.

Note: Information on Incient response measure metrics WSDOT's Handbook for Corridor Capacity Evaluation, 2nd edition, pp. 45-47

Performance analysis

2024 Q2

  • WSDOT's assistance at incident scenes provided an estimated $30.5 million in economic benefit during the quarter by reducing the effect of incidents on drivers.
    • About $17.5 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from reduced traffic delay.
    • About $13.0 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from preventing an estimated 1,950 secondary incidents and resulting delay.
  • For every $1 spent on the program during the quarter, IR teams provided drivers $20.33 in economic benefit.

2024 Q1

  • WSDOT's assistance at incident scenes provided an estimated $33.0 million in economic benefit during the quarter by reducing the effect of incidents on drivers.
    • About $19.0 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from reduced traffic delay.
    • About $14.0 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from preventing an estimated 1,897 secondary incidents and resulting delay.
  • For every $1 spent on the program during the quarter, IR teams provided drivers $22.01 in economic benefit.

2023 Q4

  • WSDOT's assistance at incident scenes provided an estimated $31.3 million in economic benefit during the quarter by reducing the effect of incidents on drivers.
    • About $17.8 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from reduced traffic delay.
    • About $13.5 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from preventing an estimated 1,881 secondary incidents and resulting delay.
  • For every $1 spent on the program during the quarter, IR teams provided drivers $20.89 in economic benefit.

2023 Q3

  • WSDOT's assistance at incident scenes provided an estimated $34.7 million in economic benefit during the quarter by reducing the effect of incidents on drivers.
    • About $19.9 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from reduced traffic delay.
    • About $14.8 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from preventing an estimated 2,178 secondary incidents and resulting delay.
  • For every $1 spent on the program during the quarter, IR teams provided drivers $23.14 in economic benefit.

2023 Q2

  • WSDOT's assistance at incident scenes provided an estimated $31.6 million in economic benefit during the quarter by reducing the effect of incidents on drivers.
    • About $18.1 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from reduced traffic delay.
    • About $13.5 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from preventing an estimated 2,082 secondary incidents and resulting delay.
  • For every $1 spent on the program during the quarter, IR teams provided drivers $21.05 in economic benefit.

2023 Q1

  • WSDOT's assistance at incident scenes provided an estimated $27.7 million in economic benefit during the quarter by reducing the effect of incidents on drivers.
    • About $15.8 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from reduced traffic delay.
    • About $11.9 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from preventing an estimated 1,891 secondary incidents and resulting delay.
  • For every $1 spent on the program during the quarter, IR teams provided drivers $18.4 in economic benefit.

2022 Q4

  • WSDOT's assistance at incident scenes provided an estimated $29.7 million in economic benefit during the quarter by reducing the effect of incidents on drivers.
    • About $17.0 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from reduced traffic delay.
    • About $12.7 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from preventing an estimated 1,944 secondary incidents and resulting delay.
  • For every $1 spent on the program during the quarter, IR teams provided drivers $19.8 in economic benefit.

2022 Q3

  • WSDOT's assistance at incident scenes provided an estimated $28.5 million in economic benefit during the quarter by reducing the effect of incidents on drivers.
    • About $16.2 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from reduced traffic delay.
    • About $12.2 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from preventing an estimated 2,118 secondary incidents and resulting delay.
  • For every $1 spent on the program during the quarter, IR teams provided drivers $19.0 in economic benefit.

2022 Q2

  • WSDOT's assistance at incident scenes provided an estimated $26.8 million in economic benefit during the quarter by reducing the effect of incidents on drivers.
    • About $15.3 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from reduced traffic delay.
    • About $11.6 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from preventing an estimated 2,100 secondary incidents and resulting delay.
  • For every $1 spent on the program during the quarter, IR teams provided drivers $17.9 in economic benefit.

2022 Q1

  • WSDOT's assistance at incident scenes provided an estimated $27.2 million in economic benefit during the quarter by reducing the effect of incidents on drivers.
    • About $15.5 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from reduced traffic delay.
    • About $11.6 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from preventing an estimated 1,952 secondary incidents and resulting delay.
  • For every $1 spent on the program during the quarter, IR teams provided drivers $18.13 in economic benefit.

2021 Q4

  • WSDOT's assistance at incident scenes provided an estimated $25.3 million in economic benefit during the quarter by reducing the effect of incidents on drivers.
    • About $14.5 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from reduced traffic delay.
    • About $10.8 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from preventing an estimated 1,830 secondary incidents and resulting delay.
  • For every $1 spent on the program during the quarter, IR teams provided drivers $16.89 in economic benefit.

2021 Q3

  • WSDOT's assistance at incident scenes provided an estimated $28.4 million in economic benefit during the quarter by reducing the effect of incidents on drivers.
    • About $16.2 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from reduced traffic delay.
    • About $12.2 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from preventing an estimated 2,240 secondary incidents and resulting delay.
  • For every $1 spent on the program during the quarter, IR teams provided drivers $18.94 in economic benefit.

2021 Q2

  • WSDOT's assistance at incident scenes provided an estimated $26.9 million in economic benefit during the quarter of 2021 by reducing the effect of incidents on drivers.
    • About $15.4 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from reduced traffic delay.
    • About $11.5 million of IR's economic benefit resulted from preventing an estimated 2,249 secondary incidents and resulting delay.
  • For every $1 spent on the program during the quarter, IR teams provided drivers $17.9 in economic benefit.

2021 Q1

  • WSDOT's assistance at incident scenes provided an estimated $26.0 million in economic benefit during the quarter by reducing the effect of incidents on drivers.
    • About $14.8 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from reduced traffic delay.
    • About $11.1 million of IR's economic benefits resulted from preventing an estimated 2,074 secondary incidents and resulting delay.
  • For every $1 spent on the program during the quarter, IR teams provided drivers $17.31 in economic benefit.

2020 Q4

  • WSDOT's assistance at incident scenes provided an estimated $22.7 million in economic benefit during the quarter by reducing the effect of incidents on drivers.
    • About $13.0 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from reduced traffic delay.
    • About $9.9 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from preventing an estimated 1,957 secondary incidents and resulting delay.
  • For every $1 spent on the program during the quarter, IR teams provided drivers $15.31 in economic benefit.

2020 Q3

  • WSDOT's assistance at incident scenes provided an estimated $24.0 million in economic benefit during the quarter by reducing the effect of incidents on drivers.
    • About 13.6 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from reduced traffic delay.
    • About $10.4 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from preventing an estimated 2,132 secondary incidents and resulting delay.
  • For every $1 spent on the program during the quarter, IR teams provided drivers $16.03 in economic benefit.

2020 Q2

  • WSDOT's assistance at incident scenes provided an estimated $20.4 million in economic benefit during the quarter by reducing the effect of incidents on drivers.
    • About $11.6 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from reduced traffic delay.
    • About $8.8 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from preventing an estimated 1,957 secondary incidents and resulting delay.
  • For every $1 spent on the program during the quarter, IR teams provided drivers $13.57 in economic benefit.

2020 Q1

  • WSDOT's assistance at incident scenes provided an estimated $26.0 million in economic benefit during the quarter by reducing the effect of incidents on drivers.
    • About $14.7 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from reduced traffic delay.
    • About $11.2 million of IR's economic benefit for the quarter resulted from preventing an estimated 2,487 secondary incidents and resulting delay.
  • For every $1 spent on the program during the quarter, IR teams provided drivers $17.31 in economic benefit.

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