UNIT – V

Incident Management: Introduction, Characteristics of Traffic Incidents, Types of Incidents, Impacts, Incident management
process, Incident traffic management; Applications of ITS: Motorist information, Equipment used; planning effective Incident
management program, Best practice in Incident management .programs. National importance of survival of Transportation
systems during and after all natural disasters especially cyclones, earthquakes, floods etc. and manmade disasters like sabotage,
terrorism etc.

INTRODUCTION TO INCIDENT MANAGEMENT IN ROAD ACCIDENTS

Incident management is a coordinated and planned approach for responding to
incidents when they occur on highway systems. It involves the systematic use of human and
mechanical processes for detecting, responding to and clearing incidents.
 Effective traffic incident management reduces the duration and impacts of traffic
incidents and improves the safety of motorists, crash victims and emergency
responders.
 Agencies typically responding to highway incidents include:
• Police
• Fire
• Towing and recovery
• Emergency medical service (EMS)
• Hazardous material
• Transportation agencies
• Media
 An “incident” is defined as any non-recurring event that causes a reduction of
roadway capacity or an abnormal increase in demand. Such events include traffic
crashes, disabled vehicles, spilled cargo, highway maintenance and
reconstruction projects, and special non-emergency events (e.g., ball games, concerts,
or any other event that significantly affects roadway operations).
 All the functions (seven activities) that together comprise the process of incident
management is as follows:
1. Detection
2. Verification
3. Motorist Information
4. Response
5. Site Management
6. Traffic Management and
7. Clearance
Traffic Incident Management (TIM) is a planned and coordinated program process to
 detect,
 respond to, and remove traffic incidents and
 restore traffic capacity as safely and quickly as possible.
Effective TIM reduces the duration and impacts of traffic incidents and improves the safety of
motorists, crash victims and emergency responders.
The National Highways Authority of India is in the process of rolling-out an integrated setup
through the Traffic Incident Emergency Management System (TIMS). Under TIMS:
 Incident Management Contractors to be appointed at state/regional office level
for providing ambulances, tow-away cranes and highway surveillance vehicles across
all highways in the state/region
 Regional Command and Control Centre for monitoring and operations, in the States
of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh on a pilot basis.
 In each of the pilot states of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, tentatively 100 - 110 additional
ambulances are planned to be provided through the Incident Management service
contractor.
 On successful implementation in these two states, the program will then be scaled up to
a national level.
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has decided to introduce a robust system to
promptly detect accidents and any incidents such as traffic jams or breakdown of
vehicles across its stretches.
 To begin with, the incident management system will cover nearly 11,000 km in Uttar
Pradesh and Rajasthan.
 These stretches will have adequate deployment of ambulances, surveillance vehicles,
tow-away cranes at regular intervals.
 All these will be mapped, connected and controlled by an IT-based regional
command centre for real- time detection of incidents and quick response.
The operators of TIM services would provide
 Two patient capacity’ ambulance at every 40 - 45 km or a „four patient capacity
ambulance’ at every 100 km
  24X7 surveillance vehicles. Surveillance vehicles to cover the assigned stretch at least
once every four hours. The in-charge of these vehicles to inform about any incident to the
regional centre and police.
 They would provide mechanical assistance in case of vehicle breakdowns and basic
mechanical repairs, provide fuel and water to stranded motorists enabling them
to reach the closest fuel station.
 Operators will be required to put overhead electronic display to alert users about traffic
status on the stretch and other information.

CHARACTERISTICS OF TRAFFIC INCIDENTS

 Accidents occur not only due to ignorance but also due to carelessness, thoughtlessness
and over confidence
 Human, vehicular and environmental factors play role before, during and after a road
traffic accidents (RTA)
 Road traffic injuries are partially predictable and hence preventable
 Strict traffic laws and penalties have to be imposed to curb this growing menace.
 The main causes of accidents to speeding, driver negligence and violation of traffic
regulations. Majority of these accidents occur in urban areas and sometimes, the
casualties involve pedestrians
 The high rate of population growth,
o large percentage of young drivers
o dramatic and uncontrolled increase in the number of vehicles over recent years
coupled with
o absence of strict law enforcement and
o poor road conditions have all contributed to the high accident rates.
 Primarily, drivers have been the main cause of accidents in terms of negligence, high
speed and poor driving
 Poor driving reflects carelessly changing lanes or making turns without signaling
 Negligence includes eating, talking to a rider or on phone or playing with radio, etc while
driving
 However, vehicle age, mechanical defects, tyre failures do have impact on safety.
 High speeds and pedestrians remain to be the main contributors to road traffic accidents
 Some of the typical characteristics of road traffic accidents are listed
o Age of the driver
o Gender of the driver
o Driver history
o Time of occurrence of accident
o Condition of vehicle
o Condition of the road
o Weather conditions
o Visibility / lighting
o Type of vehicles involved in the accident
o Speed of the vehicle
o Consumption of alcohol and drugs
 o Educational level plays an important characteristic in road traffic accidents in that
with increasing educational level a driver becomes attached to safer driving
techniques

TYPES OF INCIDENTS
The various types of traffic accidents that can happen anytime on the road are:
 Traffic accidents occur when a vehicle collides with another vehicle. They are caused by:
o Obstruction
o Pedestrian
o Crossing
o Lingering animal
o Stationary object such as tree or utility pole
 Common types of traffic accidents are
o vehicle rear end collisions
o side impact collisions
o vehicle rollover
o sideswipe collisions
o head-on collisions
o single car accidents and
o multiple vehicle pile-ups

 REAR-END COLLISION
A rear end collision occurs when one car hits the rear of the car in front of it. A rear end collision
usually happens when the vehicle ahead suddenly decelerates or when the vehicle behind
suddenly accelerates. In this case, injuries to the passengers of the impacted vehicle are greater
than those of the passengers of the impacting vehicle
 SIDE IMPACT COLLISION
Side impact collisions occur when the side of a vehicle is hit by the front or rear of another
vehicle. Side impact collisions result in more severe injuries and vehicle damage. Injuries and
damage depend on the safety features of the vehicle like:
o air bags
o crumple zones
o vehicle construction and
o materials used
 VEHICLE ROLLOVER
A vehicle rollover occurs when a vehicle flips over its side or roof. This usually happens when
the vehicle makes a high speed sharp turn. Tall vehicles such as SUV's (Sport Utility Vehicle)
are usually susceptible to a roll-over accident since they have a high centre of gravity
 SIDESWIPE COLLISION
Sideswipe collisions are collisions involving adjacent sides of two vehicles. Sideswipe collisions
often result in only cosmetic damage
 HEAD-ON COLLISION
Head-on collisions are considered very fatal especially when the collision involves two vehicles
traveling at very high speed.
 SINGLE CAR ACCIDENTS
A single car accident is a kind of accident involving only one vehicle. For example:
 o driver losing vehicle control due to drowsiness
o driver falling asleep
o occurrence of brake malfunction
 MULTIPLE VEHICLE PILE-UPS
A multiple vehicle pile-up is an accident involving many vehicles and usually happens on
highways. This is one of the deadliest traffic accidents since some vehicles are hit not once but
multiple times from different directions. Cars may spin during a pile-up accident increasing the
risk of serious injuries and loss of life to passengers. Escaping from the vehicle is not an option
as there is a risk of being hit by upcoming vehicles. It is difficult to determine the cause of
multiple vehicle collisions.

IMPACTS OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS

"More people die of road accidents than by most diseases, so much so the Indian highways are
among the top killers of the country." - Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer
Road safety is a shared responsibility
The impacts of traffic accidents are listed below:
 Traffic accidents have a devastating human toll and the economic impact of road crashes
is enormous
 The impact of road accidents on individual, family and society in terms of
morbidity, disability, economic and social fall-out, is immense and remains unrecognized
 The economic impact of injuries is huge and is estimated to cost approximately 5% of the
GDP, with injuries due to road crashes alone accounting for 3 % of the GDP
 The mental and emotional injuries after a car accident include
o mental anguish
o emotional distress
o fear
o anger
o humiliation
o anxiety
o shock
o embarrassment
o random episodes of crying
o loss of appetite
o weight fluctuations
o lack of energy
o sexual dysfunction
o mood swings and
o sleep disturbances.
 93% of the world's fatalities on the roads occur in low- and middle-income countries,
which have approximately 60% of the world's vehicles.
 Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5-
29 years.

INCIDENT MANAGEMENT PROCESS IN ROAD ACCIDENTS

An incident management process is a set of procedures and actions taken to respond to and
resolve critical incidents.
It primarily concerns:
 how incidents are detected and communicated
 who is responsible
 what tools are used, and
 What steps are taken to resolve the incident?
Traffic incident management standards are there to protect all road users.
Incident management is defined as the systematic, planned, and coordinated use of human,
institutional, mechanical, and technical resources to reduce the duration and impact of incidents,
and improve the safety of motorists, crash victims, and incident responders.
Agencies typically responding to highway incidents include:
 Police
 Fire
 Towing and recovery
 Emergency medical service (EMS)
 Hazardous material
 Transportation agencies
 Media
An “incident” is defined as any non-recurring event that causes a reduction of roadway capacity
or an abnormal increase in demand.
Events include:
 traffic crashes
 disabled vehicles
 spilled cargo
 highway maintenance
 reconstruction projects and
 special non-emergency events
Incident management process can be characterized as a set of activities that fall into the
following seven categories.
1. Detection of incident by:
o Mobile telephone calls from motorists
o Closed circuit TV cameras viewed by operators
o Automatic vehicle identification (AVI) combined with detection software
o Electronic traffic measuring devices (e.g., video imaging, loop or radar detectors)
and algorithms that detect traffic abnormalities
o Motorist aid telephones or call boxes
o Police patrols
o Aerial surveillance
o Department of transportation or public works crews reporting via two-way radio
o Traffic reporting services
o Fleet vehicles (transit and trucking)
o Roaming service patrols
2. Verification
o Incident verification involves confirming the occurrence of an incident,
determining its exact location, and obtaining as many relevant details about the
incident as possible. Verification includes gathering enough information to
dispatch the proper initial response. Incident verification is usually completed
 with the arrival of the first responders on the scene. Methods of verification
include:
o Closed circuit TV cameras viewed by operators
o Dispatch field units (e.g., police or service patrols) to the incident site
o Communications with aircraft operated by the police, the media, or an
information service provider
o Combining information from multiple cellular phone calls
3. Motorist Information
o Motorist information involves activating various means of disseminating
incident-related information to affected motorists.
o Media used to disseminate motorist information include the following
 Commercial radio broadcasts
 Highway advisory radio (HAR)
 Variable message signs (VMS)
 Telephone information systems
 In-vehicle or personal data assistant information or route guidance
systems
 Commercial and public television traffic reports
 Internet/on-line services
A variety of dissemination mechanisms provided by information service providers Motorist
information needs to be disseminated as soon as possible, and beyond the time it takes clear an
incident. It should be disseminated until traffic flow is returned to normal conditions.
4. Response
 Incident response includes
o dispatching the appropriate personnel and equipment, and
o activating the appropriate communication links and motorist information media
as possible.
o This is made possible through training and planning
o Effective response mainly involves preparedness by a number of agencies so
that response to individual incidents is coordinated, efficient, and effective.
5. Site Management
 Site management is the process of effectively coordinating and managing on-
scene resources. Ensuring the safety of response personnel, incident victims, and
other motorists is the foremost objective of incident site management. It involves the
following activities
o Accurately assessing incidents
o Properly establishing priorities
o Notifying and coordinating with the appropriate agencies and organizations
o Using effective liaisons with other responders
o Maintaining clear communications
o Effective incident site management can be facilitated by an incident command
system (ICS) which involves
 Common terminology
 Modular organization
 Integrated communications
 Agreed upon command structure
  Consolidated action plans
 Manageable span of control
 Designation of incident facilities and
 Comprehensive resource management
6. Traffic management
o Traffic management involves the application of traffic control measures in areas
affected by an incident. It includes:
 Establishing point traffic control on-scene,
 Managing the roadway space by:
 opening and closing lanes
 blocking only the portion of the incident scene that is needed for
safety
 staging and parking emergency vehicles and equipment to
minimize impact on traffic flow
 Deploying appropriate personnel to assist in traffic management (e.g.,
state police, local police, and service patrols)
 Actively managing traffic control devices (including ramp meters, lane
control signs, and traffic signals) in affected areas, and
 Designating, developing, and operating alternate routes.
Each function of effective incident management, traffic control in the incident management
context is rooted in planning.
7. Clearance
 Incident clearance is the process of removing wreckage, debris, or any other element that
disrupts the normal flow of traffic, or forces lane closures, and restoring the
roadway capacity to its pre-incident condition.

INCIDENT TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT

Traffic Incident Management is a planned and coordinated program process to detect, respond
to, and remove traffic incidents and restore traffic capacity as safely and quickly as possible.
 Traffic Incident Management requires a multidisciplinary approach.
 Traffic incidents require a high level of cooperation and coordination among all agencies
involved.
 Effective Incident Traffic Management activities depend on flexible communications and
information systems.
 On the basis of experiences from the military domain, it is possible to develop strategic
concepts that ensure the improvement of information sharing and collective action.
 Such concepts can also be applied to enhanced Traffic Incident
Management information systems.
 Incident management is the total package of measures geared to optimise traffic safety
during handling incidents like accidents, stopped vehicles, spilled vehicles, etc. to rapid
and efficient of incidents to minimal traffic delays.
 Incident Traffic Management is used to arrive at Incident Management that is
both preventive and curative.
 Curative Incident Management consists of procedures and technical improvement to
speed up incident detection, verification and response.
  Preventive Incident Management is based on the assumption that dangerous (accident
prone) situations can be predicted.
 Roadway geometry characteristics along with traffic and weather data are used to
determine incident probability on a road segment.
 Using real-time data, short term predictions can be provided.
 Combination of Incident Management (IM) and Traffic Management (TM) can help
develop a powerful strategy that is even more effective.

APPLICATIONS OF ITS IN ROAD ACCIDENTS

ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) an emerging transportation system which is comprised of an
advanced information and telecommunications network for users, roads and vehicles. ITS the
integrated application of advanced Technologies using electronics, computers, communications,
and advanced sensors.
The areas where ITS finds applications are:
 Highway management
 Incident management
 Transit management
 Arterial management
 Emergency management
 Electronic payment
 Traveller information
 Crash prevention and safety
 Operations and maintenance
 Road weather management
The benefits of ITS are:
 Safety improvements
 Delay savings
 Throughput
 Customer satisfaction
 Cost savings
 Environmental, etc
Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), based on advanced telecommunication and information
technology, offers a great potential for improving the road safety situation for all types of road-
use.
ITS can influence all of the key macroscopic variables of the road safety problem, i.e.,
exposure, risk, and the severity of accident.
ITS is a collective name for a number of technology based approaches that are designed to
improve quality, safety and efficiency of transport networks.
MOTORIST INFORMATION SYSTEM
 Urban traffic has increased tremendously in the past few years leading to frequent
congestion.
 Simply increasing the number of roads will not help the situation.
 It is here that Motorist Information System that is based on modern information
technology can assist in reducing traffic congestion and improving traffic flows and
safety.
  There is a significant potential to improve traffic conditions on urban roads and highways
by making use of information technology
 With use of information technology in traffic engineering, the concept of "MOTORIST
INFORMATION SYSTEM" came into existence
 Motorist Information System helped in improvement of existing facilities with improved
traffic management schemes
 Several urban trips are poorly designed resulting in unnecessary delays.
 Better use of existing facilities can be achieved by providing information to motorists
regarding alternative paths and actual traffic conditions on their route by using a
combination of side-way signals and on-board systems.
 Examples of Motorist Information Systems
o Pretrip Information Systems,
o Roadside displays,
o Traffic Information Broadcasting Systems, and
o Electronic Route Guiding Systems.
 The main characteristics of these technological advances are:
o reduced costs and
o increased capabilities enabling efficient data collection and processing large
amounts of data for detailed and sophisticated analysis and control
 Various Motorist Information Systems being used in different corners of the world are
listed below:
o AUTOGUIDE in England
o ALI-SCOUT in Germany
o AMTICS IN Japan and
o PATHFINDER in the United States of America
 However, despite all the advantages mentioned above, it has been seen that there are
diminishing marginal returns as more information is provided.
EQUIPMENT NEEDED IN MANAGING TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS
Procuring equipment for incident clearance should be evaluated to improve incident
management process. In case of a traffic accident, equipment is needed at most stages as
described below
 Incident response includes dispatching appropriate personnel and equipment as soon as
there is a reasonable certainty that an incident has occurred.
 Traffic incident management includes ensuring the availability of traffic control
equipment and materials
 Procuring equipment for incident clearance should be evaluated to improve the incident
management process
 The incident response guide contains the location and availability of equipment needed in
managing traffic accidents
 CCTV is a non-intrusive video image processing equipment that is used to monitor near-
by incidents with pan, tilt and zoom controls. A CCTV is extremely useful in verifying
the location, nature and scope of an incident that has already been detected.
 Some of the specialised response equipment used in managing traffic accidents are:
o Heavy duty wreakers
o Inflatable air bag systems to upright overturned trucks, etc.,
 Some of the special use equipment used to help reduce clearance and response times are:
 o Identification arm bands and vests
o Incident response and hazardous materials manuals
o Total station surveying equipment

PLANNING EFFECTIVE INCIDENT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

The goal of an incident management system is not to create a response, but rather to create a
more effective response for all responding agencies. The difference between an incidence
response and an effective incident management lies in the incident response which is carried out
in every area covered by every form of emergency management.
However, effective incident management carries out a detailed degree of coordination, planning
and conscious effort implied by effective incident management.
An effective approach to developing an incident management program involves the following
steps:
 Identification of relevant stakeholders
 Kick-off meeting to introduce the concepts and benefits of incident management
 Public outreach
 The basic eight (8) step incident management program involves:
o Defining the problem
o Setting goals and objectives
o Developing alternatives
o Evaluating alternatives
o Selecting alternatives
o Implementing alternatives
o Re-evaluating alternatives and
o Refining the system
Elements of a successful incident management program
 People
o Incident Response Teams (IRTs) deliver actual incident management services in
the field.
o IRTs are interdisciplinary teams participating from each responding agency (Eg:
Fire, Police, Emergency Management Services, Transport department, etc)
o The following agencies and service providers may be part of the IRTs
 Ambulance services
 Towing and recovery
 Toxic material control
 Emergency services, etc
Training
 Multi-agency training is fundamental in maintaining and improving incident
management program quality.
 The importance of proper training cannot be underestimated in light of the litigious
nature of today's society.
Field guides
 Formal training programs provide the knowledge and skill base that Incident Response
Team (IRT) members need to perform their jobs effectively. This is supplemented with
written (or electronic) field guides.
  Resource guides, like other aspects of incident management programs, are tailored to the
nature, scope and resources of each area‟s program.
 Response guides are different from policy guides in the sense that policy guide focuses
on administrative and theoretical aspects of incident management and are based on laws
and statutes
 Response guides or field guides provide the team members with nuts and bolts of
information needed, contact lists and the actions to be performed. They are often required
to work in harsh and demanding conditions.
 Incident response guide covers:
o Introduction to incident management
o Incident response vehicle
o Equipment and materials
o Step-by-Step incident response features for ALL features
o Communications (OSCCR - On Scene Command and Communication Radio
network) for use by dissimilar agencies at an incident scene
Following are the elements of a successful incident management program:
 Infrastructural and Operational Strategies
o Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
 provides a complementary means to maximise efficiency and safety of
transportation infrastructure
 ITS covers a range of advanced computer and telecommunications
technologies that allow monitoring, control and respond to transportation
system in sophisticated ways
 ITS is particularly relevant to incident management. It provides the
greatest benefit of many IT technologies.
Detection and verification
 Surveillance technologies help in traffic monitoring and data collection.
 Data collected includes:
o Vehicle volume
o Vehicle speeds
o Occupancy and
o Traffic density
 The various types of automated surveillance are:
o Inductive loop detectors
o Magnetometer detection
o Microwave radar detection
o Infrared detection
o Ultrasonic detection
o Video image processing
o Closed Circuit Television (CCTV)
o Video probes
o Automatic vehicle identification
o Automatic vehicle location
 Incident detection algorithms
o Traffic surveillance methods are translated into incident detection data
 o Several incident detection algorithms are used to allow computer systems in
traffic operation centers to alert operators of the possibility of an incident in the
road network
o Incident detection algorithms are divided into:
 Pattern recognition algorithms
 Statistical algorithms
 Time-series algorithms and
 Modeling algorithms

BEST PRACTICES IN INCIDENT MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS

 Traffic incident management (TIM) is a planned and coordinated program to detect and
remove incidents and restore traffic capacity as safely and quickly as possible.
 Various tools and strategies have been developed and implemented in an effort to
improve overall TIM efforts.
 TIM activities are typically categorized into five overlapping functional areas:
o Detection and verification.
o Traveller information.
o Response.
o Scene management and traffic control.
o Quick clearance and recovery.
Detection and verification
 Field verification by on-site responders and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras
 Enhanced roadway reference markers and automated positioning systems to support
accurate identification of incident location by motorists or response personnel
 In rural areas, motorist aid call boxes and automated collision notification
systems (ACNS) to speed detection

National importance of survival of transportation systems during and after all natural
disasters:
NATIONAL IMPORTANCE OF SURVIVAL OF TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS
A transportation system can be defined as the combination of elements and their interactions,
which produce the demand for travel within a given area and the supply
of transportation services to satisfy this demand.
A transportation system is a system for moving persons or goods consisting of three components
1. The vehicle
2. The guideway and
3. The operations plan
The different modes of transport are air, water, and land transport, which include Rails or
railways, road and off-road transport.
 Disasters are extraordinary situations that require significant logistical deployment to
transport equipment and humanitarian goods in order to help and provide relief to
victims.
 An efficient response helps to reduce the social, economic and environmental impacts
 Transportation is often considered a critical infrastructure since a disruption in one of
its components can have a significant impact on the economic and social well-being of a
region of a nation.
 An effective way to assess how critical infrastructure like transportation system would
affect the economy is to consider the impacts its removal would have on the flows and
activities it serves.
 Transportation systems have a direct impact on:
o Mobility
o Infrastructure and economic interdependency
o Centralization and concentration of distribution
o Urbanization
 If the disruption is at a wide scale, road networks are vulnerable to disruptions because of
their mesh structure
 Regardless of type of disasters, it is essential to keep the transportation systems in a
working status as transportation is required for:
o Site reconnaissance
o Search and rescue operations
o Resettlement and rehabilitation of affected people
o Providing camps, food and sanitation places for affected people
o Transportation systems include transport by road, water and air
 Destructive natural disasters such as hurricanes or other extreme weather events
challenge many industries, especially the public transit industry.

 After a disaster occurs, transportation networks act as key lifelines enabling access
to the affected communities
 From an economic standpoint, the impacts of disasters are dependent on three factors;
o the nature and level of incidence of disasters
o the level of exposure of populations and infrastructures, and
o the level of vulnerability of populations and infrastructures.
 The impact of disasters on transportation systems
 Logistics networks highlight the important role of road transport in ensuring that affected
areas become resilient to natural disasters in the future.
 The resilience of a transport system is its capability to resume operations at a level
similar to that before a disruption occurred.
 Resilience is highly influenced by the network structure, particularly its redundancy.
 Resilience is also related to the nature of the disaster
 Transport infrastructure is at risk of direct damage from extreme climate events.
 Cox's proportional hazards regression model is used to determine the rate of recovery and
cumulative probability that recovery occurs for transport infrastructure across an area.
 Data for post-disaster reconstruction projects over a period are used to analyse recovery
rates for a geographic region, natural disaster type and post-disaster transport
infrastructure reconstruction cost.
 Bootstrap resampling technique has been used to demonstrate that the model (Cox's
proportional hazards regression model) is robust and reasonable.
 Some companies are reactive and agile during a disruption or disaster – using
a transportation management system (TMS) to reroute freight in transit and schedule
alternative modes for inventory on hand.
 Road transport is potentially affected by flooding, storms and rising sea levels due to
climate change.
The continued survival of transportation systems is essential to the very existence of mankind as
it plays a major role of transporting both human beings as well as equipment required for
survival.
The natural disasters considered are:
 Cyclones
o Natural disasters like cyclones can have disastrous consequences on
transportation systems since they:
 cover wide areas
 move slowly and
 are associated with high winds and rainfalls
 Earthquakes
o Tectonic activity is the source of major geophysical disasters like Earthquakes.
o They are difficult to predict and are focused on areas in the vicinity to boundaries
of tectonic plates.
o Earthquakes cause the most extensive damage to the transport infrastructure as it
has significant impacts on supply chains
o Although areas of high earthquake occurrence are readily identified, the specific
location and scale of an event remain a probability that is often difficult to
conceptualize in the planning of transport infrastructure.
o Trucks deliver essential relief goods and much needed construction equipment
and resources, while also removing debris from affected cities and towns.
o The flexibility of trucks, with the facility to use secondary and alternative roads,
has allowed relief operations to continue.
 Floods
o During such events, regional transportation systems are usually shut down and
road transportation can be severely impaired.
o Due to flooding and power outages, it might take several days before the entire
system is brought back to normal operating conditions.
o Natural disasters like cyclones will continue to occur with uncertainty in scale
and frequency
Man-made disasters like
 Sabotage
o Sabotage refers to a deliberate attempt to weakening an organisation (in this case
a transportation system) through subversion, obstruction, disruption or
destruction.
o There have been several cases in the past where lines of transportation (especially
road networks) were compromised to held the government to ransom
o Sabotage operations also involve setting one or all components of the
transportation system on fire
o There have been several acts of sabotage of road transportation networks in the
past by throwing hand grenades on roads
 Terrorism
o Conflicts such as wars and civil unrest often result in the damaging of
infrastructure with transportation commonly a voluntary or involuntary target.
 o Due to the importance of trade and the structure of road transportation networks,
bottlenecks (strategic passages) are subject to the risk of partial or complete
closure.
o Terrorism has been a disruptive issue that came at the forefront over the last two
decades.
o The disruptions caused by terrorism can be considered a disaster because of their
scale and scope.
o The response towards terrorism often results in the closing of the road transport
system.
o Often, road transport lines are forced to pass through constrained areas, choke-
points along the heavily used routes, which make the interception of vehicles
feasible within a delimited area.
In-spite of the disruption caused to transportation systems during and after disasters (natural and
man-made), it is of utmost importance to keep the transportation system alive. Thus, the survival
of transportation systems during and after all disasters is discussed below:
Disasters Risk Management, which could reduce disruptions, is discussed below:
 Risk Assessment involves measuring the likelihood of an event and its potential impacts
over a defined time frame and a specific area should provide a prioritization of risks.
 Preparedness should be considered in terms of potential responses involving
o warehousing and
o positioning of relief material, equipment along with
o Training the labour force in emergency situations.
 Mitigation involves the immediate reaction to the event including
o shutting down of transport systems
o the evacuation of populations and
o The mobilization of first response resources, namely distributing emergency relief
(food, medical supplies).
o The goal being control and attenuation of the disruptions caused by the disaster.
 Response operations commence after mitigation and involve bringing back
transportation system capacity with existing infrastructure.
o The goal is to maintain operational as many elements of the transport system as
possible.
 Recovery concerns all the steps necessary to recover the transport capacity that was lost
during the disaster.
o It involves repairs, restarting services that were discontinued as well as
investments in new and improved infrastructures, modes, and terminals.
o The goal is to bring back the capacity and level of service to pre-disaster
conditions. With the lessons learned from the disaster, more resilient
infrastructure and network.
The reconstruction time of transportation infrastructure tends to be slower than other
infrastructure.
Road and rail infrastructure can take several months
Highway and rail services can run at a lower capacity and on alternative routes.
Recovery is contingent upon the availability of capital, equipment, and managerial expertise.
Recovery operations open the door for public-private partnerships since the private sector has a
vast array of resources, including transportation and warehousing assets that can be brought in
during a disaster.
Achieving a level of resilience implies a combination of redundancy or
flexibility. Redundancy involves a level of duplication of assets while Flexibility concerns the
capacity to find alternatives such as new routes.
Disruptions, complete or partial, always result in much more transport demand than supply.
The mobility of passengers or freight should shift towards modes that have a higher capacity and
resiliency.

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