Freeway Service Patrol Evaluation (Los Angeles)

Problem

The Freeway Service Patrol consists of teams of tow trucks that patrol highways and provide assistance to motorists. It is used in several places throughout the state for quick removal of incidents and to reduce congestion delay and other adverse effects from incidents on freeways. In addition to evaluating the effectiveness of the FSP, our objectives for this study were to develop a comprehensive database on freeway incidents and operational characteristics and to develop an evaluation methodology in the face of a lack of "before" data (the FSP had already been operating for about seven years along this section of freeway).

Method

We collected average travel speed and incident information for a 7.8-mile section of the I-10 freeway between Eastern Avenue and Santa Anita Avenue ("Beat 8") in Los Angeles by using seven probe vehicles with 5.7 minute headways, 6 hours a day, for 32 weekdays. This was combined with information from loop detectors, tow truck logs, and CHP logs.

We selected a test site that had mixed lanes, narrow shoulders, closely spaced loop detectors, high volumes of traffic, frequent incidents, and no construction planned for the test period.

Findings

This study found that the Freeway Service Patrol is successful and cost effective. The FSP handles a large number of minor incidents that may cause congestion. It detects and verifies major incidents. It reduces delay, fuel consumption, and emissions, and well as the amount of time the CHP spends on minor incidents.

The FSP should be used as a mobile data service for incident detection and freeway conditions.