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21st Century Operations Using 21st Century Technologies
Speeches

Integrating Surface Transportation Weather Information Systems - The DOT Role

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Slide 1

Integrating Surface Transportation Weather Information Systems - The DOT Role

Transportation Research Board 85th Annual Meeting

Session 494: SAFETEA-LU Road Weather Research and Development Program

January 24, 2006

Jeffery F. Paniati
Associate Administrator
Office of Operations
Federal Highway Administration

Slide 2

Presentation Overview

  • Importance of road weather management in achieving 21st century operations.
  • Progress to date.
  • Future direction--SAFETEA-LU section 5308.

Slide 3

Basic Premise...

Build, maintain, and operate a transportation system that is safe, reliable, and secure.

Slide 4

Current Reality...

BUILD, maintain, and operate a transportation system that is safe, reliable, and secure.

Slide 5

The Effects of Weather on Our Roads

  • Safety
    • 24% of all crashes occurred on slick pavement or under adverse weather.
  • Mobility
    • Travel delay can increase by 11% to 50%, depending on weather severity.
  • Productivity
    • Weather-related delay can add $3.4 billion to freight costs annually.

Slide 6

Achieving 21st Century Operations

  • Institutional Change
    • Customer focused
    • Performance based
    • Systems, not jurisdictions
    • Real-time information
    • Proactive
    • 24/7
  • Technical Advancement
    • Information gathering
    • Information sharing
    • System management & control
    • Vehicle-based
    • Vehicle-to-vehicle
    • Vehicle-to-roadside-to-home base
    • Electronic payment

Slide 7

Realizing the Vision

Institutional Change
    21st Century Operations
Technical Advancement

A Cultural Shift

Slide 8

21st Century Operations Under All Weather Conditions

  • FHWA is providing leadership and direction for:
    • Institutional Change
      • Bridge transportation and meteorological communities
      • Build markets
    • Technical Advancement
      • Develop integrated solutions
      • Leverage resources
    • Developing solutions that alleviate the effects of adverse weather on the transportation system.

Slide 9

Progress to Date

  • FHWA/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Partnership
  • The Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS)
  • The Clarus Initiative

Slide 10

FHWA/NOAA Partnership

  • FHWA and NOAA have common strategic goals
    • Reducing the loss of lives on the surface transportation system.
    • Improving mobility to aid the free flow of commerce.
  • Numerous examples of collaboration
    • A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in July 2005.
    • FHWA and NOAA co-chair the Working Group on Weather Information for Surface Transportation.
    • Cost-share on research and outreach projects.

Slide 11

Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS)

  • The MDSS is a winter maintenance decision support system that combines:
    • Advanced weather prediction
    • Advanced road condition prediction
    • Rules of practice for anti-icing and de-icing
  • The system generates winter treatment recommendations on a route-by-route basis.
  • MDSS is a prime example of an integrated solution, enabling maintenance managers to make better, more effective decisions on when and how to deploy resources and treat roads.

Slide 12

MDSS: Route Specific Forecasts

This image shows a screenshot of MDSS (Maintenance Decision Support Tool), a software developed by FHWA to help transportation agencies with their winter maintenance operations including application of anti-icing and deicing chemicals.d

Slide 13

States Involved in MDSS Activities: 2000-2006 as of January 3, 2006d

Slide 14

The Clarus Initiative

  • Clarus is a system that assimilates, quality checks, and disseminates the Nation’s road weather observations.
  • Initiative Objectives:
    • Design, develop and demonstrate these capabilities.
    • Work with our public and private partners to develop and evaluate the value-added road weather information products that Clarus enables.
    • Establish partnerships to move from demonstration to deployment of a nationwide network.

Slide 15

State DOT Investments in Environmental Sensor Stations (ESS)

State DOT Investments in Environmental Sensor Stations (ESS)d

Slide 16

Unlimited Possibilities!

  • Clarus
    • More Effective Websites
    • Route Specific Radio & TV Broadcasts of Travel Conditions
    • Credible & Precise Travel Advice
    • Add Detail to Highway Advisory Radio (HAR) & Variable Message Signs (VMS)
    • Spawn New Technologies (in-vehicle, PDA)
    • Enhanced decision making tools

Slide 17

SAFETEA-LU – Section 5308

  • Establish a Road Weather Research and Development (R&D) program:
    • Follow National Research Council (NRC) report "Where the Weather Meets the Road"
    • Promote technology transfer
    • Expand research and development
  • Multi-disciplinary stakeholder input:
    • NOAA
    • AASHTO
    • National Science Foundation
    • Private sector
    • Non-profit organizations
  • Funding: $5m/yr for 4 years

Slide 18

Section 5308 – Road Weather R&D Program

  • Affirms that we are on the right track.
  • Enables us to do even more
    • Expand upon the success of MDSS.
    • Integrate Clarus and Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII).
    • Build weather-responsive traffic management tools.

Slide 19

Expand MDSS

  • Build upon the success of MDSS by expanding it to support other operations and maintenance decisionmaking.
    • Weather-responsive traffic management and traveler information.
    • Maintenance and construction.
  • Support the new market of MDSS services by documenting costs and benefits.
  • Continued outreach, education, and technology transfer.

Slide 20

Integrate Clarus & VII

  • There is a strong link between Clarus and the Vehicle Infrastructure Integration Initiative (VII).
  • The marriage of these two initiatives will:
    • Completely alter the road weather landscape
    • Spark new innovations in the private sector
    • Change the way that atmospheric scientists observe and model the boundary layer
  • Over the next four years, we will tap into the VII data stream, turning it into valuable road weather observations that can be utilized by the road weather community.

Slide 21

Weather-responsive Traffic Management

  • Traffic managers must be proactive.
  • Integrated solutions pave the way.
    • Both transportation modeling and weather modeling are improving in resolution, focusing on the mesoscale.
    • Merging mesoscale weather forecasts (e.g., a precipitation forecast for the next 8 hours) with traffic models will enable a traffic manager to take action before the weather has a chance to take effect.
  • Over the next four years we will explore such model integration as well as the development of better weather-responsive traffic management strategies.

Slide 22

Conclusion

  • Improved weather management is a key part of 21st century operations.
  • The FHWA Weather Management program has established the institutional relationships and demonstrated the potential of technology.
  • SAFETEA-LU Section 5308 will serve as a catalyst to change surface transportation weather and operations:
    • Providing the resources to develop integrated solutions
    • Creating demand for these solutions by building bridges between the transportation and meteorological communities
    • Leveraging public sector resources to build markets and improve private sector services
  • These efforts will ultimately change the way that we make decisions, which will save lives, time, and money.

 

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