Shelley Row Director, ITS Joint Program Office Research and Innovative Technology Administration U.S. Department of Transportation Surface Transportation Weather Research & Development

2 Previous World

3 Current World

4 Explosion of Information Technology Source: Gary Grube, Motorola (2007) Mobile Wireless Devices TVsPCsGame Boys iPodsPDAs 1.5B 820M 190M 50+M 50M 2B Number of Devices in Use Today, Worldwide

5 Trends Growing Congestion Stagnant Safety Limited Public Resources Ever-growing expectations for instant information Explosion of Technology

6 Growing Congestion Between 1982 and 2003: 103% increase in highway travel Impacted by congestion 55% increase in the length of Rush hour

7 Road Weather & Congestion Weather & Mobility on the Nation’s Highways –About 25% of non-recurrent congestion on freeways is due to weather –System delay is 1 billion hours per year –Weather-related delay adds $3.4 billion to freight costs annually (2 of 4)

8 Slow Pace of Deployment 2,435 ESS in US 162,373 miles in the National Highway System –One ESS for every 67 miles 980,968 miles of Federal-Aid Highways –One ESS for every 403 miles Distribution is spotty Doesn’t include 3,030,662 miles of non-Federal-Aid Highways Weather conditions change within feet – not miles

9 Growing Expectations for Connectivity Consumers Experience –Connectivity all times, every where –Streaming video on cell phones Road Weather Managers Have

10 And Yet, Our Vision Is To Manage and operate the surface transportation system more efficiently for: Congestion Relief Improved Safety Increased Productivity Under ALL weather conditions!

11 Road Weather Research Needs Road weather information –Clarus –VII Decision Support Systems Weather & Transportation Partnerships –Public –Private ITS: Capturing Transportation’s Imagination through Technology

12 Road Weather Information Route Specific Radio & TV Broadcasts of Travel Conditions More Effective Websites Credible & Precise Travel Advice Add Detail to HAR & VMS Spawn New Technologies (PDA, cell) Enhanced decision making tools In-vehicle Information Anytime, Anywhere Road Weather Information

13 The Clarus System State DOT RWIS Server Collector Services Quality Checking Web Portal 7 Day Data Cache Metadata Cache The Clarus System State DOT RWIS Server State DOT RWIS Server State DOT GPS/AVL VII Probe- Based Data Nationwide Data Management System for Surface Transportation Environmental & Pavement Condition Observations Observations Metadata Quality Flags Environment Canada RWIN Server

14 Road Weather Information Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) –New road weather observations Fill gaps in data Different data from fixed sensors –Tailored information into vehicle

15 Previous World

16 Future World: Vehicle Infrastructure Integration A nationwide communication PLATFORM between vehicles and roadside beacons A PARTNERSHIP between DOT, automobile manufacturers, and state and local government APPLICATIONS (including weather) that will transformationally improve safety and mobility On-Board Equipment Public user Private user Roadside Equipment Network On-Board Equipment Local applications

17 VII Weather Example Improved identification of precipitation and precipitation type Today: Precipitation type is determined by airport observations (red circles) - few and far between! VII enabled: Data (air temperature, and data from maintenance vehicles) available directly from vehicles

18 VII Weather Example 3 Improved Identification of Slippery Pavement VII enabled: Data about anti-lock braking, traction control, and stability control systems are available from vehicles.

19 Fundamental Research Needed

20 Road Weather Research Needs Road weather information –Clarus –VII Decision Support Systems Weather & Transportation Partnerships –Public –Private ITS: Capturing Transportation’s Imagination through Technology

21 Before MDSS: The Great Divide Winter Road Maintenance Community Meteorological Community Maintenance Plow Operators Garage Supervisors District Administrators Weather Service Providers Researchers General Forecasters

22 MDSS: The Bridge Between Communities Winter Road Maintenance Community Meteorological Community Strengthening Communication Integrating Science & Best Practices Improving Mobility & Safety

23 Road Weather Research Needs Road weather information –Clarus –VII Decision Support Systems Weather & Transportation Partnerships –Public –Private ITS: Capturing Transportation’s Imagination through Technology

24 Partnerships Traditional partnerships –Transportation to transportation –Weather to weather New partnerships –Weather to Transportation –Private sector partners Weather community Transportation community

25 Road Weather Research Needs Road weather information –Clarus –VII Decision Support Systems Weather & Transportation Partnerships –Public –Private ITS: Capturing Transportation’s Imagination through Technology