Monday, January 2, 2012

How Busy Is It in The Bakken?

According to The Dickinson Press:
North Dakota Department of Transportation figures show that about 6,000 vehicles traveled on a stretch of U.S. Highway 85 west of Watford City to the junction of U.S. Highway 2 near Williston in 2011, compared to 2,300 vehicles on the same stretch in 2006.

The vehicle count on U.S. Highway 2 north of Williston to the junction of U.S. Highway 85 went from approximately 5,000 per day in 2006 to 12,000 in 2011.
How dangerous is it?

Well it's pretty dangerous if you're not wearing your seat belt, are driving drunk, or unlucky enough to be driving when others around you are driving drunk.

One can control two of those variables, and significantly reduce the risk of the third variable.

Again, it would be nice to see denominators in these stories. We have numerators (number of deaths) but not denominators (number of drivers). And lots of other data, most importantly, when highway deaths most likely to occur.

But with 6,000 vehicles vs 2,300 vehicles on one stretch of road, increased accidents is not a surprise.

But this is the big story: these vehicles are driving in an industrial park at 65 mph.

Measured in square miles, the Williston Basin is the biggest industrial/construction park in America. Perhaps this is an even better link.

(Note: Some cities/counties make it difficult for new taxi companies to operate; again, this is not rocket science.)

2 comments:

  1. Another construction boom....

    Caused by another industry.

    Lawyers.

    Just think what the construction business would be there without lawyers.

    http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-property-report-20120102,0,6879054.story

    "One of Riverside's oldest law firms, Best Best & Krieger, has agreed to rent 35,000 square feet in the Citrus Tower office building being built there.

    The domed, six-story tower at 3390 University Ave. is the only office building under construction in Riverside and San Bernardino counties ..."

    Of course, come May, things may slow down, unlesss... there are more lawyers.

    Which is needed more: rigs in the WB, or lawyers in CA?

    anon 1

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  2. There was a recent article in the Bismarck Tribune about the number of lawyers flocking to the ND oil patch. I chose not to post/link the story.

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