Nothing causes more headaches for transportation users and mangers than traffic incidents.
Incidents such as accidents, disabled vehicles, and weather problems can significantly affect the traffic flow on a highway. This may cause long delays and back-ups for drivers. Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to predict when and where a traffic incident with specific characteristics will occur. Therefore, reaction to traffic incidents is critical to minimizing their effects on drivers. One source of information that would help both transportation users and managers is how long an incident will affect traffic.