Results of a multi-state pooled fund study.
Statewide, Indiana, United States
Best Practices for Road Weather Management, Version 3
Summary Information
In June 2012 U.S. DOT finalized Version 3.0 of the Best Practices for Road Weather Management report. This report contains 27 case studies of systems in 22 states that improve roadway operations under inclement weather conditions. Each case study has six sections including a general description of the system, system components, operational procedures, resulting transportation outcomes, implementation issues, as well as contact information and references.
The previous report, Best Practices for Road Weather Management Version 2.0 presented 30 case studies from municipal and state transportation agencies. At this point, those solutions are either mainstreamed or have been surpassed by even better solutions. The Version 3.0 report captures the state-of-the-art, presenting 27 all-new practices that build upon these agencies’ previous successes.
- Travelers and commercial carriers with demanding delivery schedules expect higher levels of service.
- Transportation agencies have limited funding and staff.
- Reliable site- and time-specific reports of road conditions can be hard to get.
- Some weather conditions—particularly fog, frost, and blowing snow—can be difficult to forecast.
- Capabilities and limitations of new and innovative maintenance treatments are not fully understood.
- Agencies are losing their most seasoned maintenance workers, who have experienced diverse weather and treated a lot of roads during their careers.
- Transportation agencies face environmental challenges to the types and amounts of deicing materials they apply.
Major MDSS components include:
- A vendor supplied and operated information system that assimilates a wide variety of weather and maintenance data and models pavement surface response to weather, already applied maintenance treatments, and feasible future treatments.
- A desktop graphical user interface customized to individual users, providing detailed information on weather and road surface conditions and predictions, as well as maintenance treatment recommendations.
- On-vehicle systems data systems that inform the MDSS of weather conditions, road conditions, and applied maintenance treatments and then inform equipment operators of predicted conditions and maintenance recommendations.
RESULTS
Independent analysis of the benefits and costs of MDSS demonstrates potential for significant cost savings, improved service, or a combination of the two.
Indiana’s statewide deployment of MDSS during the winter of 2008-2009 provides the most direct evidence of MDSS benefit. Using MDSS as a management tool, Indiana reduced salt costs by $12 million and realized more than $1M savings in fuel and overtime. Even after normalizing for winter conditions, Indiana estimated overall savings at $11 million, 27 percent of its normal total winter budget.
In addition to cost efficiency, MDSS users have realized other intangible but important benefits:
- "One-stop" convenience for complete winter weather information.
- Better anticipation of storm events and resulting road conditions.
- Delivery of weather forecasts and maintenance recommendations directly to snowplow operators.
- More consistent and seamless winter maintenance among maintenance units.
- Reduced environmental exposure to deicing chemicals.
- Use of the MDSS storm playback feature as a powerful maintenance training and analysis tool.
The full report, finalized in June 2012, assesses many strategies for Road Weather Management. These strategies improve safety, efficiency, and mobility. These findings along with the benefits and costs provide a valuable resource to those considering the implementation of Road Weather Management systems.