Is detour a good choice to reduce commute delay caused by crash? A case study in Tennessee

Traffic congestion, caused by incidents such as vehicle crashes and lane closures has been annoying to commuters. To reduce the delay caused by unexpected events, like vehicle crashes, detours might be a good option even at the cost of a longer travel distance. The study uses the I-24 smart corridor and state route 1 (SR-1) in Tennessee as a case study and examines the conditions under which detour decisions should be made. The researcher collected 460 crashes and computed the travel time of the direct route (i.e., staying on I-24) and detour route (i.e., using a stretch of SR-1). Three different detour scenarios are identified at a departure time: strongly recommended, alternative, and not recommended. Additionally, the researcher classified the three detour scenarios into two groups: detour and non-detour by estimating the probability of detour scenarios one hour after the incident occurred. A bootstrap logit regression was conducted to determine the impact of various factors on the decision to take a detour. Serval important findings are: 1. One-unit increase in injuries leads to a 59.1% increase in the likelihood of taking a detour. 2. When a crash occurs in peak hours, staying on the I-24 smart corridor seems to be a better choice. 3. If a crash occurs in the HELP patrol area, that is, in the Nashville area, a detour is highly unlikely. This research could provide insights into incident management and give commuters suggestions about the circumstances in which detour is a good choice.