Citation

Wesemann L, Hamilton T, Tabaie S. Transp. Res. Rec. 1996; 1556: 96-108.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.3141/1556-12

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

When four key freeways in Southern California were damaged on January 17, 1994, by the Northridge earthquake, state and local agencies implemented a variety of emergency measures to the transportation systems in damaged corridors to ensure some degree of mobility during reconstruction. Travelers who had used damaged routes were faced with a variety of travel choices, such as using primary roadway detours, ridesharing, diverting to other roads, using transit, avoiding travel, telecommuting, or changing time of travel. On the basis of comprehensive travel surveys, traffic monitoring, and data collection, it was determined that travelers responded in significantly different ways in each of the four damaged corridors. In the very heavily traveled 1-10 (Santa Monica) Freeway Corridor, even though primary roadway detours could only carry approximately 40 percent of normal freeway capacity, virtually all travelers still drove their automobiles because numerous parallel streets exist in this corridor as alternatives to the freeway. By contrast, research showed that some 7,000 users of the 1--5 (Golden State) and SR-14 (Antelope Valley) freeways shifted to commuter trains because parallel roadways were limited. In addition, although most travelers quickly returned to their original trip making choices and mode of travel after damaged freeways were opened, other travelers (including many train riders) chose to remain with the new travel choices for a variety of behavioral reasons, including reliability. Further research indicated that when travelers in Southern California were forced to choose from a variety of new travel choices, their decision making followed a logical hierarchy based on specific trip making requirements and travel time thresholds, as well as their perceptions of the suitability of each choice for their own particular travel needs.