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Weather and Winter Mobility Program Overview

U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. Weather and Winter Mobility Program Overview. Paul Pisano Weather & Winter Mobility Coordinator Office of Transportation Operations. Weather. Affects transportation outcomes of:. Safety Mobility. Productivity

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Weather and Winter Mobility Program Overview

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  1. U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Weather and Winter Mobility Program Overview Paul Pisano Weather & Winter Mobility Coordinator Office of Transportation Operations

  2. Weather Affects transportation outcomes of: • Safety • Mobility • Productivity • Environmental quality

  3. Impacts of Adverse Weather • Direct costs • $2 billion for snow & ice control • $5 billion for infrastructure repair • Indirect costs • c.7,000 fatalities, 450,000 injuries • Traffic delays • A one-day highway shutdown due to snow costs from $15 to $76 million in lost time, productivity & wages. • Excessive use of chemicals and abrasives affects water and air quality

  4. Weather affects all road users and operators Transit Operator Maintainer Traffic Manager Transportation System Commercial Operator Personal Traveler Builder Planner Emergency Manager

  5. Benefits of Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS) • Return on investment for RWIS ranges from 6:1 to 10:1 for winter maintenance practices (per Minnesota DOT) • RWIS and anti-icing reduces salt use • Wisconsin DOT estimates a reduction of 37,500 tons of salt over one season, which equals about $1.1M saved … the Weather & Winter Mobility Program aims to extend these benefits beyond winter maintenance

  6. Program Goals • Reduce the impacts (i.e., direct & indirect costs) of adverse weather by: • Developing weather information systems that meet the demands of all users and operators • Developing improved maintenance tools and technologies for winter mobility • Developing road weather management practices for all types of weather

  7. Program Measures • Achieving the goals will lead to improvements that align with the FHWA strategic plan: • Mobility (hours of delay) • Productivity (operating expenses, freight shipments) • Safety (# of fatalities, crashes) • Environment (reduced chemical usage)

  8. Program Objectives 1. Strengthen the relationship between the transportation and meteorology communities 2. Improve the processing & display of weather data (esp. decision support systems) 3. Develop advanced maintenance technologies 4. Develop road weather management practices 5. Develop outreach and training material

  9. Program Activities Overview of some of the projects and related activities taking place within the Weather & Winter Mobility program

  10. Road Weather Requirements • In 1999 we embarked on an effort to document road weather information requirements • Enables us to: • work more effectively with the weather community • develop weather-based decision support systems • enhance the ITS Architecture to better reflect weather • First phase focuses on winter maintenance • Ver 1.0 done in 2/00; Ver 2.0 due in 7/00

  11. Decision Support Systems • Objective - prototype and field test decision support systems for weather-based decision making • Start with Winter Maintenance • Future efforts for Travelers, Traffic & Emergency Managers

  12. Foretell - Field Test … combines advanced road condition prediction with other types of traveler information

  13. Screen Capture of the Foretell System

  14. Automated Spraying Systems

  15. Road Weather Management Incorporating weather information into traffic operations...

  16. Hurricane Related Activities • Post-storm efforts • State assessments • FEMA study on Hurricane Floyd • Next steps • Regional workshop – June, 2000 • Traffic control plans • Interstate lane reversal • Standardizing evacuation operations • Update existing evacuation routes • Information sharing - internal & cross-agency • Improving web sites

  17. Outreach Efforts • Eastern Snow and Ice Conference • September 6-7, Roanoke, VA • In conjunction with the TRB 5th Symposium on Snow Removal and Ice Control Technology • Developing RWIS Training Material with AASHTO Snow and Ice Cooperative Program • Peer-to-peer technical assistance & information exchange • Revising and expanding our web page

  18. FY2000 Projects • Prototype Maintenance Decision Support System • Assimilation of Road Condition Observations • Environmental Sensor Station Investment and Road Condition Forecasting • Expansion of Road Weather Requirements

  19. For Further Information… Paul Pisano FHWA, HOTO-1 400 7th St., SW Washington, D.C. 20590 202-366-1301 paul.pisano@fhwa.dot.gov www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov

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