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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
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Integrating Surface Transportation Weather Information Systems - The DOT RoleTransportation Research Board 85th Annual MeetingSession 494: SAFETEA-LU Road Weather Research and Development ProgramJanuary 24, 2006 Jeffery F. Paniati Associate Administrator Office of Operations Federal Highway Administration
Presentation Overview • Importance of road weather management in achieving 21st century operations. • Progress to date. • Future direction--SAFETEA-LU section 5308.
Basic Premise… Build, maintain, and operate a transportation system that is safe, reliable, and secure.
Current Reality… BUILD, maintain, and operate a transportation system that is safe, reliable, and secure.
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.
Achieving 21st Century Operations Technical Advancement • Information gathering • Information sharing • System mgmt. & control • Vehicle-based • Vehicle-to-vehicle • Vehicle-to-roadside-to-home base • Electronic payment Institutional Change • Customer focused • Performance based • Systems, not jurisdictions • Real-time information • Proactive • 24/7
Realizing the Vision Institutional Change 21st Century Operations Technical Advancement A Cultural Shift
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.
Progress to Date • FHWA/NOAA Partnership • The Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) • The Clarus Initiative
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.
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.
MDSS: Route Specific Forecasts High Resolution Maps with Routes Snow accumulation Forecasts for Routes Blowing Snow and Bridge Frost Alerts
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.
State DOT Investments in Environmental Sensor Stations (ESS) D.C. Alaska Hawaii 6 56 1 83 4 5 5 61 20 154 57 11 39 61 15 40 43 28 33 9 82 86 57 72 158 61 31 87 60 6 120 4 41 63 44 111 26 39 34 81 16 2 4 1 24 0 6 61 National Total 2,214 71 5 30 ESS owned by State Transportation AgenciesAn Environmental Sensor Station (ESS) is any site with sensors measuring atmospheric conditions, pavement conditions, and/or water level conditions.
Add Detail to HAR & VMS Credible & Precise Travel Advice Route Specific Radio & TV Broadcasts of Travel Conditions More Effective Websites Enhanced decision making tools Unlimited Possibilities! Spawn New Technologies (in-vehicle, PDA) Clarus
SAFETEA-LU – Section 5308 • Establish a Road Weather R&D program: • Follow 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.