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The present study demonstrated the potential applications of reliability models for crash analysis of a large highway network. Specifically, three major outcomes of reliability models were investigated: temporal distributions of crashes, reliability score, and expected number of crashes, using 20-year data (2001–2020) of crashes recorded on the Saskatchewan highway network. A series of reliability models were developed for crashes by crash severity, vehicle involvement, and highway type. First, the temporal distributions of crashes on each segment were fit to a statistical distribution. Second, the reliability scores were used to rank the high crash risk segments. Third, the mean expected crash frequency was used to develop network-wide safety performance functions for total and fatal crashes in urban and rural highway segments using Poisson–Tweedie (PTw) regression models. The developed PTw models showed that the presence of trucks in the traffic composition has a significant effect on crash frequency, especially for urban highway segments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resilience is a multidisciplinary concept that deals with rapid response and recovery of a system experiencing a disruption. Despite extensive research on this topic, there is a need to clarify resilience concepts in the context of road freight transportation systems (FTSs) from a three-dimensional perspective (i.e., physical infrastructure, users, and managing organizations) and to identify persistent knowledge gaps concerning the characterization and measurement of FTS resilience vis-à-vis disruptive events. This paper addresses these shortcomings through a systematic review of 149 research studies. The synthesis of findings clarifies inconsistencies associated with the characteristics of FTS resilience and in so doing, establishes a unified framework for measuring FTS resilience through the life cycle of disruptive events. Critical data gaps, methodological shortcomings, and a lack of empirical evidence concerning FTS resilience to disruptive events remain. More robust analytical approaches are required to incorporate interdependencies among FTS dimensions into resilience assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in the size and weight regulations for trucks have been used to improve their productivity, safety, and operational performance in Canada. In response to these changes, bridge design codes undergo modifications to envelop the potential range of trucks in operation. A five-decade timeline is presented to: (i) document how bridge codes and their live load models have evolved, with a focus on the Manitoba-specific HSS-25 truck; and (ii) discuss how responsive the bridge design codes have historically been to changes in truck size and weight regulations. While at times bridge codes are released in conjunction with expected regulation changes, there is often delay in the issuance of those codes. Assessments of the current truck fleet, which now includes long combination vehicles (LCVs), may be a consideration for future bridge live load models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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