Impact of energy sector growth on perceived transportation safety in the seventeen-county oil region of western North Dakota : a follow-up study.

Details

• Creators:
  Kubas, Andrew ; Vachal, Kimberly
• Corporate Creators:
  Rural Transportation Safety and Security Center (U.S.)
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Innovative Technology Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Petroleum industry
  • Heavy duty trucks
  • Highway safety
  • Rural areas
  • Drivers
  • Behavior
  • Surveys
  • Accident data
• Publication/ Report Number:
  MPC 14-271
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  North Dakota
• Corporate Publisher:
  Mountain Plains Consortium
• Abstract:
  The sharp increase in travel volumes, shift in traffic mix, and large increases in crashes have transformed ; the travel environment in the oil region of western North Dakota. Roads once used for local access and ; agricultural purposes now mostly serve expanding oil production. Oil companies, workers, commercial ; trucks, and industrial equipment associated with oil extraction use these roads to access oil drilling and ; production sites. This has led to a larger number of overweight and oversized vehicles on the road. A ; survey questionnaire was sent to drivers to better understand perceptions and behaviors of road users in ; this region. County-level crash data were gathered for the state of North Dakota to understand changes in ; driving conditions during the latest oil boom – specifically between 2004 and 2013. This study addresses ; two goals for improving traffic safety in the region: first, to examine public perceptions of traffic safety ; issues and priorities; and, second, to address crash trends and possible intervention strategies. Survey ; results indicate that drivers perceive the region to be dangerous. Crash data reveal that overall crash ; events are growing at near exponential rates, and some metrics are worsening even when factoring for ; changes in vehicle miles traveled and population growth.
  More +
• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/28188/dot_28188_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.72 MB]
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers ; US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:f0a42ffe809a4f2c791ef917a9da0a486ea5cb81a4f05d3c9735fb206225126e