Impact of energy sector growth on perceived transportation safety in the seventeen-county oil region of western North Dakota : a three-year case 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:
  • Rural highways
  • Overweight loads
  • Oversize loads
  • Surveys
  • Accident data
  • Case studies
  • Highway safety
  • Petroleum industry
  • Trend (Statistics)
  • Behavior
• Publication/ Report Number:
  MPC 15-289
• 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 traffic environment in the oil region of western North Dakota. Roads once used for local access and ; agricultural purposes now regularly serve the energy sector. Oil companies, workers, commercial trucks, ; and industrial equipment associated with oil extraction use these roads to access drilling and production ; sites. This has led to a larger number of overweight and oversized vehicles sharing the roadway with other ; traffic. 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 to analyze changes in driving conditions ; during the latest oil boom – specifically between 2004 and 2014. This study addresses two goals for ; improving regional traffic safety: first, to examine public perceptions of traffic safety issues and ; priorities; and, second, to address crash trends and intervention strategies. Survey results indicate ; residents believe driving conditions in the region are dangerous, but ratings have improved as oil activity ; has decreased. Crash data reveal that crashes parallel oil production: as the number of active oil wells ; grew exponentially, so too did crashes – even when factoring for changes in vehicle miles traveled and ; population growth. Economic factors, such as the price of a barrel of oil, may be linked to the prevalence ; of crashes, especially those involving large trucks.
  More +
• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/29620/dot_29620_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.77 MB]
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers ; US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:52bcf2c026da3b396788853004a6ccf473b4594dd15f275c03b1eae2c396a942