Port Recovery through Traffic Operations in the Aftermath of an Oil Spill Incident

Abstract

Transportation systems and their components play a substantial role in the U.S. and the world economy. This research study serves as a guide to increase further research or perhaps to continue improving the traffic system in this growing economy. The setting for this research study is an oil spill incident on the Mississippi River near the Port of New Orleans (NOLA). Due to several oil spills in the past, port efficiency is stunted due to delays in the movement of cargo on the roads. The objective of this research study is to develop a quick and efficient solution by using the microscopic simulation platform VISSIM to New Orleans Port operations from being shut down due to an oil spill scenario. The benefits were quantified based on total travel time and total delay along the study corridor. Next, literature on past port oil spills and contingency plans due to oil spills were further researched, as a part of the study to serve as a guide to design the near-perfect plan for execution. The present challenges with the port operations could be alleviated through signal retiming during an oil spill incident. The after study results show the heavy vehicles reduce the delay time. In addition, it also reduce heavy vehicles travel time, provides better heavy vehicles efficiency, and increase overall road network efficiency.