Incident Response - Numbers and clearance times

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Number of incidents compared to clearance times

WSDOT Incident Response personnel collect data for all incidents to which an IR team responds in the Washington Incident Tracking System. This data includes times of first awareness, arrival on scene, roadway clearance, and incident clearance, which allow WSDOT to analyze various aspects of incident duration. IR teams also record other data such as how they were notified of the incident, incident cause and how many lanes of travel were blocked.

Incidents are the total number of events that WSDOT Incident Response teams responded to, including incidents that teams were unable to be located.

Incident clearance times are the average time between the first recordable awareness of the incident (detection, notification, or verification) and the time the last responder left the scene.

For details on the methodology used to calculate, refer to WSDOT's Handbook for Corridor Capacity Evaluation (PDF 5.9MB).

Source: Washington Incident Tracking System.

Note: For more information on the Incident Response metrics, refer to WSDOT's Handbook for Corridor Capacity Evaluation, 2nd edition, pp. 45-47.

Incident numbers and duration types

Source: Washington Incident Tracking System.

Note: For more information on the Incident Response metrics, refer to WSDOT's Handbook for Corridor Capacity Evaluation, 2nd edition, pp. 45-47.

Performance Analysis

2024 Q4

WSDOT's Incident Response teams assisted at 11,020 incidents during the fourth quarter (October through December) of 2024.

On average, the IR teams responded to an incident scene every 12 minutes and 1 second during the quarter. There were 1,104 (11.1%) more incidents during the fourth quarter of 2024 than in the fourth quarter of 2023 (9,916).

Of the 11,020 total incidents:

  • 7,209 (65.4%) lasted less than 15 minutes
  • 3,557 (32.3%) lasted 15-90 minutes
  • 254 (2.3%) lasted more than 90 minutes

IR teams assisted at the scene of 254 incidents that lasted more than 90 minutes during the fourth quarter of 2024. This was 56 more incidents—a 28.3% increase—than the same quarter in 2023.

2024 Q3

WSDOT's Incident Response teams assisted at 11,841 incidents during the third quarter (July through September) of 2024.

On average, the IR teams responded to an incident scene every 16 minutes and 24 seconds during the quarter. There were 273 (2.4%) more incidents during the third quarter of 2024 than in the third quarter of 2023 (11,568).

Of the 11,841 total incidents:

  • 8,232 (69.5%) lasted less than 15 minutes
  • 3,387 (28.6%) lasted 15-90 minutes
  • 222 (1.9%) lasted more than 90 minutes

IR teams assisted at the scene of 222 incidents that lasted more than 90 minutes during the third quarter of 2024. This was 30 fewer incidents—a 11.9% decrease—than the same quarter in 2023.

2024 Q2

WSDOT's Incident Response teams assisted at 10,323 incidents during the second quarter (April through June) of 2024.

On average, the IR teams responded to an incident scene every 16 minutes and 36 seconds during the quarter. There were 732 (6.6%) fewer incidents during the second quarter of 2024 than in the second quarter of 2023 (11,055).

Of the 10,323 total incidents:

  • 7,102 (68.8%) lasted less than 15 minutes
  • 3,013 (29.2%) lasted 15-90 minutes
  • 208 (2.0%) lasted more than 90 minutes

IR teams assisted at the scene of 208 incidents that lasted more than 90 minutes during the second quarter of 2024. This was four fewer incidents—a 1.9% decrease—than the same quarter in 2023.

2024 Q1

WSDOT's Incident Response teams assisted at 9,997 incidents during the first quarter (January through March) of 2024.

On average, the IR teams responded to an incident scene every 13 minutes and 6 seconds during the quarter. There were 22 (0.2%) fewer incidents during the first quarter of 2024 than in the first quarter of 2023 (10,019).

Of the 9,997 total incidents:

  • 6,637 (66.4%) lasted less than 15 minutes
  • 3,108 (31.1%) lasted 15-90 minutes
  • 252 (2.5%) incidents lasted more than 90 minutes

IR teams assisted at the scene of 252 incidents that lasted more than 90 minutes during the first quarter of 2024. This was 83 more incidents—a 49.1% increase—than the same quarter in 2023.

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