# Presentation: 733179

## 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

**Notes:**
TRB Annual Meeting
Session 494: SAFETEA-LU Road Weather Research and Development Program
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
1:30 PM – 3:15 PM, Marriott, Delaware A

## 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.

## 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.

- 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.

***The Effects of Weather on Our Roads***

**Notes:**
We are all aware of the significant effects that adverse weather has highway operations.  To summarize:
Almost a quarter of all crashes occur under adverse weather or pavement conditions, and yet these conditions do not occur one quarter of the time.
And not only does weather affect mobility, but it’s effects have a high degree of variance.  In other words, light rain has a different impact than heavy rain.  This is significant to us as we work towards solutions that promote reliability – that is, taking the guessing out of travel times.
Finally, weather effects the economy through delays on freight movements.  We often think of just-in-time deliveries as being very sensitive to system changes, but the effects cut across all sectors of the freight community.
These problems are being addressed within the FHWA Office of Operations, where we have been working with our partners to achieve 21st century operations under all weather conditions.

## 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 mgmt. & control
- Vehicle-based
- Vehicle-to-vehicle
- Vehicle-to-roadside-to-home base
- Electronic payment

**Notes:**
21st Century Operations means thinking about operating the transportation system that we built and maintain.
It is essential if we are to achieve our goal of a transportation system that is safe, reliable and secure.
The efforts directed towards Institutional Change and Technical Advancement that serve to meet our Road Weather Management goals that I described in the previous slide are a subset of the Change and Advancements we are pursuing for Operations as a whole.

## Realizing the Vision

- Institutional Change

- Technical Advancement

**21****st**** Century Operations**

- A Cultural Shift

**Notes:**
To realize the vision, these two ideas must come together, promoting a cultural shift in the way that decisions are made.
In a minute I will describe how we plan to achieve this vision based on SAFETEA-LU, but to set that stage I would first like to describe three highlights of the Road Weather Management program...

## 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.

**Notes:**
Since 1999 FHWA has taken a leadership role in Road Weather Management
We are providing direction with respect to the Institutional Change that must take place,
By building bridges across the transportation and meteorological communities
And building markets within the private sector
And we are also harnessing the Technical Advancements that are occurring on both the transportation and meteorological fronts by
Developing integrated solutions that merge advanced weather prediction with transportation-related decisions, and
Leveraging resources by taking advantage of this extensive information infrastructure
Our intent is to work amongst these communities to develop multi-disciplinary solutions that alleviate the safety, mobility and productivity problems that I spoke of earlier.
This is being carried out within that context of 21st Century Operations, and is consistent with the that vision...

## Progress to Date

- FHWA/NOAA Partnership
- The Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS)
- The *Clarus* Initiative

**Notes:**
The three items I would like to highlight are:
The strong partnership between FHWA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
The Maintenance Decision Support System project, and
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.

**Notes:**
Given that NOAA and FHWA have common strategic goals of:
Reducing the loss of lives on the surface transportation system, and
Improving mobility on roadways that aids the free flow of commerce
it only makes sense for the two agencies to work together.  And such collaboration has been occurring for years.
Examples of this collaboration include:
The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Highway and NOAA Administrators, which has served to institutionalize our commitments to our common goals, 
Second, FHWA & NOAA co-chair the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology’s Working Group on Weather Information for Surface Transportation, which serves to coordinate surface weather activities across all of the pertinent government departments and define broad research and implementation plans,
And third, we cost-share on research and outreach projects, such as:
The development of a surface weather observing system – with our Clarus initiative serving as a key input, which I’ll describe in more detail in a minute, and
Development of training material and other products that link the State DOTs, the National Weather Service, and academic institutions.

## 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.

**Notes:**
In an effort to address the needs of winter maintenance managers, FHWA led the development of the Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS).
The MDSS is a support tool 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
.In other words, it enables them to be proactive, a fundamental characteristic of 21st Century Operations.

## MDSS: Route Specific Forecasts

- Maps with Routes

- Snow accumulation
- Forecasts for
- Routes

- Blowing Snow and Bridge Frost Alerts

***MDSS: Route Specific Forecasts***

**Notes:**
For those of you unfamiliar with the MDSS, here’s a screen shot.
The MDSS initiative began in 2000 and has matured from a set of requirements to a functioning prototype.
This prototype has since served as the basis for several companies to develop commercial products, which are in various stages of deployment across the country.
One of our next step is to market MDSS so that our public and private partners can continue deployment.  This includes:
Making the software available to everyone, for free, so that it can be incorporated into private sector product lines,
Offering technical assistance to the private sector for deployment
Offering assistance to State DOT staff for procurement (e.g., we’ve developed an RFP template)
Conducting annual stakeholder meetings to allow the community to share experiences

## Slide 13

## 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.

**Notes:**
Clarus, which is Latin for “Clear” is a joint FHWA Operations and ITS JPO Initiative
It is a system to assimilate, quality check, and disseminate the nation’s road weather observations
Under the initiative we will design, develop and demonstrate these capabilities, which will serve as the basis for value-added road weather information products that the public and private sector will provide to the surface transportation community.
In addition, we will establish partnerships to see that the system moves from demonstration to the deployment of a nationwide network
The Clarus concept started with State DOTs under the Aurora pooled fund program, and we have established a multi-disciplinary team of public and private experts from the transportation and weather communities who are working together to take it from idea to fully operating system. 

## ESS owned by State Transportation Agencies An Environmental Sensor Station (ESS) is any site with sensors measuring atmospheric conditions, pavement conditions, and/or water level conditions.

**ESS owned by State Transportation Agencies** An Environmental Sensor Station (ESS) is any site with sensors measuring atmospheric conditions, pavement conditions, and/or water level conditions.

***State DOT Investments in Environmental Sensor Stations (ESS)***

**Notes:**
Let’s first look at what we have today:  we see that State DOTs have invested in thousands of road weather sensor stations.
Despite all of these investments across the country, the data is not being used to its fullest extent.  The Clarus goal is to maximize the value of these public investments by making the data available to public and private weather service providers, who will turn that data into valuable products.
It will also provide feedback to State DOTs so they can ensure that they data they are collecting is of good quality

## Unlimited Possibilities!

**Spawn New Technologies**
**(in-vehicle, PDA)**

***Clarus***

**Notes:**
As an ‘enabling technology’, Clarus will change the look of road weather information, unleashing a host of new products and services that will reach the end users via a variety of dissemination mechanisms, such as those depicted in this slide.  Clarus will not establish these new means of information dissemination, it will make them better.
By providing information that is timely, accurate and relevant, road users will find the information to be more intuitive and credible, whether that’s by:
Targeted messages on Dynamic Message Signs and Highway Advisory Radios,
More precise Decision Support Systems
Or route-specific information on websites or via 511
The benefits include:  
Timely, accurate and relevant weather data
Stable, reliable access to road weather information by wide range of users 
Value-added products for decision making
Maximize investments by State DOTs
As with MDSS, this supports the broader goals of 21st Century Operations by providing real-time information via a host of technologies, enabling proactive decision making

## 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

- 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

***SAFETEA-LU – Section 5308***

**Notes:**
Now that I’ve given you an idea of where we are, let me share with you our thoughts about Section 5308 of SAFETEA-LU.
First let me revisit the key points of the legislation.

## 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.

**Notes:**
Based on this language, we see Section 5308 as legislation that...
Affirms that we are on the right track
The language in the bill is very consistent with our current program, which tells us that what we were doing is right.
Enables us to do even more
With this mandate, we can build upon our successes, doing more and doing it more quickly
Our intent is to apply the funds across all aspects of the program, building upon our ongoing efforts, and taking on some new challenges that we otherwise would not have been able to do
Here are just three examples of the types of activities that we pursue over the next four years: 
Expand upon the success of MDSS
Integrate Clarus & VII
Build weather-responsive traffic management tools 
I’ll now take a few minutes to touch on each of these examples.

## 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.

- 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.

***Expand MDSS***

## 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.

- 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.

***Integrate Clarus & VII***

**Notes:**
Clarus is initially focusing on integrating observations from fixed sensors along the side of the road, we see even greater potential by filling the gaps between sensors with road weather data coming from vehicles
The Vehicle Infrastructure Integration Initiative (VII) is developing the capability of passing data and information between vehicles and the roadside
The marriage of these two initiatives will
completely alter the road weather landscape, providing a picture of road weather conditions that is unattainable via fixed sensors
spark new innovations in the private sector for personalized, route-specific road weather information
change the way that atmospheric scientists observe and model the boundary layer, creating better weather products, especially for the surface
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.

**Notes:**
Another area that will grow over the next four years is weather-responsive traffic management
To achieve 21st Century Operations, traffic managers must be proactive
With respect to Weather-responsive Traffic Management, this means developing operational strategies that they can implement to better manage the burgeoning traffic demand.  Again, integrated solutions pave the way to these management strategies.  For example:
We know that both transportation and weather models are improving in resolution, especially at the meso- and micro-scales.
By merging the mesoscale weather forecasts – for example a precipitation forecast for the next 8 hours – with traffic models, for example the models that support dynamic traffic assignment, it will enable a traffic manager to take action before the weather has had a chance to take effect.  Advisories, control strategies and other demand management tools could be employed to affect such driver decisions as route choice and departure time.
Over the next four years we will explore such model integration and 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.