Book Description

This report contains case study analyses of four motorist assistance patrol programs in the State of Texas. In addition, it contains discussions of the four incident response and clearnace strategies most often pursued by various agencies within the state: (1) freeway corridor surveillance and control, (2) traffic and incident management teams, (3) fast removal policies, and (4) motorist assistance patrols. Of the four strategies discussed in this report, motorist assistance patrols appear to offer the greatest opportunity for agencies to directly affect the duration of the response and clearance stages of an incident. Many factors go into determining the physical structure and coverage area of a motorist assistance patrol, a great deal of them political. This report provides useful insight into the various political and organizational attributes that need to be considered when developing a motorist assistance program. Regardless of their organizational structure or geographic coverage , motorist assistance patrols provide an effective way to reduce incident response and clearance time and at the same time are a useful tool for improving an agency's public image.