Dangerous Goods Route Selection Criteria

摘要

The movement of Dangerous Goods on the roads through a major city represents arnchallenge to transportation engineers, enforcement officers, and emergencyrnresponse personnel. One of these challenges is the establishment of a DangerousrnGoods Route network. Road safety is a key criterion in the effective selection ofrnDangerous Goods Routes.rnIncorporating safety in the designation of a Dangerous Goods Route Network will berndemonstrated using the City of Calgary's network as an example. A researchrnproject was conducted in 2003 by Hamilton-Finn for the Centre of TransportationrnEngineering and Planning (C-TEP) in cooperation with the City of Calgary, to:rn?Establish criteria for the selection of dangerous goods routes;rn?Review the adequacy of the current network; andrn?Identify changes and upgrades using a transparent and repeatable process.rnThe criteria established for the selection of Dangerous Goods Routes can be equallyrnapplicable for other cities in Canada, with minor modifications for local conditions.rnThe review included the latest research from Europe, Canada and the United Statesrnon Dangerous Goods roads transport, and particularly the research related to routernselection criteria and methods.rnThe City of Calgary's existing Dangerous Goods road network was reviewed andrndiscussed with City staff. The City's requirements or expectations from an upgradedrnDangerous Goods road network were established. A “what if” scenario analysis wasrnalso conducted, examining the alternatives when a designated Dangerous Goodsrnroute is blocked due to an emergency, and traffic needs to be diverted.rnA new set of criteria and decision support system were established to allow the Cityrnto select a logical Dangerous Goods route network using objective, transparent andrnrepeatable measures. Some of the core safety criteria include:rn?Minimum crash frequency;rn?Insurance premium implications; andrn?Catastrophe minimization.rnA combination of these and several non-safety criteria form a practical decisionrnsupport system for the City. An example of the application of the decision supportrnsystem will be demonstrated. Using the new criteria and decision support systemrnopportunities for changes or upgrades to the City's existing Dangerous Goodsrnnetwork were identified. These included adding/deleting/confirming routes, andrnsuggestions to physically upgrade existing roads to meet dangerous goodsrndesignation criteria. In summary, the movement of Dangerous Goods represents a relatively high-riskrnroad transportation operation, and crashes involving trucks carrying dangerousrngoods could be catastrophic to the road system and to the surrounding environment.rnRoad safety and public exposure to risk are among the main criteria used inrnestablishing a Dangerous Goods route network.