Regional Operations Forum Road Weather Management Accelerating solutions for highway safety, renewal, reliability, and capacity Regional Operations Forum Road Weather Management Target time – 50 mins.

Session Objectives Provide high-level awareness of road weather management Develop awareness of principles and elements associated with modern road weather management Understand how to implement elements of road weather management

The Road Weather Problem Safety: 1.57± million weather-related crashes/year 7,400 fatalities; 690,000 injuries 24% of all crashes occurred on slick pavement or under adverse weather Mobility: 15% of delay caused by bad weather Productivity: Weather-related delay adds $3.4 billion to freight costs annually Environment: Chemicals effect watersheds, air quality and infrastructure

Types of Weather Winter weather Snow, especially first snow Blowing and drifting snow Freezing rain Rain Especially heavy rain or first rain Limited visibility Fog or dust/sand storms Frost

Weather Effects on Traffic Operations Reduced Visibility Reduced Roadway Friction Reduced Roadway Capacity Damaged Infrastructure Blocked Roadways Inundated Roadways and Flooding Coastal Evacuation Increased Speed Differential Increased Driver Stress

Weather Data and Information Sources Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS)—Fixed sensors and mobile sensors Weather observing systems Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS) — NOAA Automated Weather Observing Systems (AWOS) —FAA Both provide the basis for NWS forecasts MADIS

Road Weather Information System (RWIS) Environmental sensor stations (ESS) to collect data A communication system for data transfer Central server to process data Dissemination of information to agencies/motorists

How is RWIS used?

Michigan RWIS Deployment

Available Weather Resources

Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System (MADIS) Collect, integrate, quality control, and distribute observations from NOAA and non-NOAA organizations. Leverages partnerships with multiple partner agencies to integrate observations Including state departments of transportation Provides a finer density, higher frequency observational database for use by the greater meteorological community MADIS runs operationally in real time in the National Weather Service (NWS) Many states are making RWIS data available to MADIS

Weather Forecasts All weather observations can improve weather forecasts The more information, the better National Weather Service Private meteorological services RWIS performs double duty RWIS information is used directly by maintenance crews, supervisors, and managers Information from RWIS feeds and improves weather forecasts

Benefits of Reliable Weather Forecasts Improved resource allocation Crews sent to the right places at the right times With the right equipment With the right treatment material (and the right amount) Effective resource allocation results in safer roads and reduced costs A key to effective road weather management is timely and accurate forecasts and measurements.

Pavement Condition Prediction Forecasts of pavement temperatures and conditions Supporting information for treatment decisions When and if to treat What type of treatment to use Valuable input to maintenance staff for resource allocation

Weather Responsive Traffic Management (WRTM) Three types of WRTM strategies Advisory strategies provide information on prevailing and predicted conditions Posting fog warnings on dynamic message signs Listing flooded routes on web sites Control strategies alter the state of roadway devices to permit or restrict traffic Reducing speed limits with variable speed limit signs Modifying traffic signal timing based on pavement conditions Treatment strategies supply resources Most common treatment strategies are application of sand, salt, and anti-icing chemicals to pavements

Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) System to support winter maintenance activities Capitalizes on existing road and weather data sources Augments data sources where they are weak or where improved accuracy could significantly improve the decision-making task Fuses data to make an open, integrated, and understandable presentation of current environmental and road conditions Proactive resource management, equipment management, cost management for highly variable winter operations

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MDSS Benefits Indiana DOT program benefits Statewide implementation 2009 Saved 228,000 tons of salt = $12M Saved 58,000 hours of overtime = $1.4M One-stop for winter weather information Consistency in tracking/reporting among regional maintenance groups Supports proactive training Looking toward mobile data collection capabilities Indiana has one of the better ‘case studies’ in terms of tangible benefits (cost savings/efficiency) as well as other benefits. This is widely featured in a lot of the MDSS documentation.

Road Weather Management Performance Measures Will differ on types of weather encountered Will differ by agency objectives Sample measures Regain time Time to return to “normal” seasonal conditions Coefficient of friction or “grip” factor Benefit–Cost What weather related performance measures does your agency use?

Notable Trends Open RWIS architecture Noninvasive sensors Importance of camera imagery Mobile data collection and AVL Multistate weather response coordination Interest in connected vehicles Integration of weather and traffic management (@ TMC) Including traveler information Emphasis on performance measurement

Group Discussion What weather events do you have to manage? What road weather management tools do you use? What has been successful? What are the gaps you still have? What new equipment, systems, or processes are you developing or exploring?

Weather Takeaways Do you take advantage of all the weather resources available to you (appropriate to your role)? Has your agency looked into mobile weather data collection? Has your agency looked into the MDSS? Does it use it?