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Freeway Service Patrols                      

INTRODUCTION

What is it?

A freeway service patrol, alternatively known as a motorist assistance patrol, roadway service patrol, or a courtesy patrol, is the umbrella term for a variety of programs implemented by government agencies, typically state Highway Patrols or Departments of Transportation, to reduce traffic congestion and improve highway safety by having specially marked and equipped vehicles patrol designated sections of roadway and provide incident management and motorist assistance at trouble spots they encounter.

It is a free service of privately owned tow trucks that patrol designated routes on congested urban freeways. Because the overall target is to lower traffic congestion caused by stopped vehicles, the service usually patrols during peak hours, but also may patrol during other designated times and days.

The goal of the FSP is to maximize the effectiveness of the freeway transportation system. The FSP is a congestion management tool which strategically addresses commute traffic pattern problems. Deployment of the FSP trucks is driven by congestion patterns in major metropolitan areas. It is necessary for the FSP program to respond immediately to changing or increasing needs for impediment mitigation.

Freeway Service Patrol programs usually consist of a fleet of light-duty trucks, equipped with two-way radio communication to a traffic control center. Patrols usually operate on "beats" along a pre-defined stretch of highway, although sometimes they are dispatched on demand. FSP programs vary in size from two vehicle operations to programs with as many as 150 tow trucks. Correspondingly, coverage varies from just a single bridge or tunnel, to several beats within a large metropolitan area.

Benefits

• Average travel delay savings, per vehicle or per person, are usually small, since most incidents are brief and occasional.
• Freeway Service Patrols offer a sense of security that stems from knowing that someone will be there to help, plus the confidence that, when an incident occurs, it will be dealt with expeditiously.

Costs

The annual cost of incident clearance ranges from $200,000 to $300,000 for programs with a few vehicles, to $24 million for the Los Angeles program, one of the largest in the United States. Sometimes the cost of clean-up or other services provided are recovered from the truck or vehicle owner, but most services are usually free of charge.

System Description

Despite freeway service patrols' inclusion in the National ITS Architecture, and their increasingly widespread use, there has been no standardization as to how they are operated. Their scope, in terms of number of vehicles on patrol, operating hours, and milage patrolled, can vary widely. The patrol may operate only during peak hours, with only 30 or 40 operating hours per week, or may operate all 168 hours during a week, as the West Virginia Courtesy Patrol does. Likewise, the sort of vehicle used in the patrol varies, but may include light-duty pickup trucks, heavy-duty trucks, minivans, or wreckers. In all cases, the vehicle will be marked as a part of the freeway service patrol, and in some states a freeway service patrol vehicle is legally defined as an emergency vehicle. Variation also exists in the role that the agency or agencies responsible for a patrol plays in its operations. For instance, California's Freeway Service Patrol program consists of privately owned and operated wreckers that have contracts with the state, whereas Georgia's HERO program is run directly by the Georgia Department of Transportation: its vehicles are state property and its operators state employees.

Implementation

Where is it Implemented?

Freeway Patrol Services exist in every state, in the United States.

In some states, the program name is the generic term, as with California's Freeway Service Patrol; in others, the program has an individualized name, as with Indiana's Hoosier Helper program. Freeway service patrols are typically incorporated into a city or region's intelligent transportation system if it has one, and the United States Department of Transportation has included them as a market package in the National ITS Architecture, designated EM04. That designation emphasizes the role that these patrols can serve in incident or emergency management.

References

Wikipedia

Last updated August 30, 2007