The Benefits of Expanding the Incident Management Program in Utah

A 2018 study of performance measures for the Utah Department of Transportation’s (UDOT) Incident Management Team (IMT) program concluded that the program was cost effective and benefited Utah motorists. During the 2018 legislative session, UDOT received funding to expand its IMT program. To determine the benefits of expanding the IMT program, a comparison of performance measures for 2018 and 2020 incident data was conducted. In addition, data regarding the affected volume, the excess travel time, and the excess user cost associated with incident congestion were gathered. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic affected traffic volumes during this study, and statistical analyses were utilized to account for volume differences between the two years. Results indicated that the expansion of the IMT program has allowed UDOT to respond more consistently to incidents and respond to a larger quantity of incidents over a larger coverage area and in extended operating hours.