The Traffic and Behavioral Effects of the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge Collapse

Transportation Research Part A, Vol. 44, No. 10, pp. 771-784, December 2010

37 Pages Posted: 7 Jan 2011 Last revised: 22 Jan 2011

See all articles by Shanjiang Zhu

Shanjiang Zhu

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

David Matthew Levinson

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Henry Liu

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Kathleen Harder

Center for Design in Health & Human Factors Program

Date Written: July 6, 2010

Abstract

On August 1, 2007, the collapse of the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis abruptly interrupted the usual route of about 140,000 daily vehicle trips, which substantially disturbed regular traffic flow patterns on the network. It took several weeks for the network to re-equilibrate, during which period, travelers continued to learn and adjust their travel decisions. A good understanding of this process is crucial for traffic management and the design of mitigation schemes. Data from loop detectors, bus ridership statistics, and a survey are analyzed and compared reveal the evolving traffic reactions to the bridge collapse and how individual choices could help to explain such dynamics. Findings on short-term traffic dynamics and behavioral reactions to this major network disruption have important implications for traffic management in response to future scenarios.

Keywords: I-35W bridge collapse, travel behavior, travel survey

JEL Classification: R41, R40

Suggested Citation

Zhu, Shanjiang and Levinson, David Matthew and Liu, Henry and Harder, Kathleen, The Traffic and Behavioral Effects of the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge Collapse (July 6, 2010). Transportation Research Part A, Vol. 44, No. 10, pp. 771-784, December 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1735507

Shanjiang Zhu

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities ( email )

420 Delaware St. SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
United States

David Matthew Levinson (Contact Author)

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Henry Liu

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

Kathleen Harder

Center for Design in Health & Human Factors Program ( email )

Pharmaceutics
308 Harvard Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
United States

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