CHAPTER 2. ONGOING ROAD WEATHER MANAGEMENT PROGRAM ACTIVITIES

The first step in the performance measures update was to identify ongoing and new Road Weather Management Program (RWMP) activities since 2012. The list was compiled from a review of RWMP resources, including:

• Road Weather Management Program website
  (Available at: http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/Weather/index.asp).
• United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Road Weather Roadmap (Fiscal Years 2012-2017).
• Materials from the 2014 Road Weather Management Stakeholder Meeting
  (Available at: http://www.its.dot.gov/presentations.htm#road2014).
• Road Weather Management Measures – 2012 Update report
  (Available at: http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51000/51065/26615E33.pdf).
• Discussions with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Road Weather Management Program staff.

In 2012, the RWMP identified seven programmatic objectives that guided the determination of program direction and activity. Slight modifications to objectives were recorded as part of a recent roadmap development activity to clarify the role of data and applications to the program. The current objectives of the program are provided below:

1. Build and sustain relationships with multi-disciplinary partners to expand RWM deployments.
2. Ensure road weather management investments improve highway performance.
3. (Advance) Transportation, weather, and research communities' use of and reliance on fixed and mobile road weather observations.
4. Advance the state of the art for mobile sensing and integrating vehicle data into road weather applications.
5. Advance the state of the practice by promoting tailored management strategies for different regions.
6. Improve integration of weather-related decision support technologies into traffic operations and maintenance procedures.
7. Advance the state of the practice by raising road weather capabilities and awareness across the transportation and weather communities.
8. Increase engagement of Operations community with climate change and sustainability communities.

The RWMP undertakes a variety of activities and projects to support the attainment of the listed objectives. The following sections describe the program activities that support the eight objectives.

Stakeholder Coordination

The RWMP has continued to support stakeholder coordination activities through workshops and other partnership-building activities. In recent years, the program's coordination covers a broader mix of stakeholders, building from a historical core of winter maintenance to new partnerships with connected vehicles, weather data, performance management, and traffic management. State departments of transportation (DOT) participation has held steady over the years, constrained by program budgets for participant travel.

The primary showcase for stakeholder engagement for the program is the annual meetings, which have been conducted since 2000. Initially, the annual meetings focused on maintenance decision support systems (MDSS), then on Clarus/MDSS, and now more broadly on road weather management. Three in-person meetings were conducted in the timeframe under review for this update (2012-2014). These regular meetings serve as a peer exchange for transportation and weather practitioners involved in road weather management from State DOTs, academia, vendors, and weather service providers. The topics vary from year-to-year, but typically include recent accomplishments, emerging ideas allowing for peer-to-peer sharing of best practices, and research initiatives. In 2015, a virtual road weather management meeting as conducted in lieu of an in-person workshop.

In addition to the RWMP stakeholder forum, a subset of stakeholders convened for weather responsive traffic management (WRTM) in 2013. Participants learned about real-world applications of WRTM and new research, tools, and resources available to support WRTM implementation. The stakeholders also helped identify gaps, challenges, and opportunities relating to WRTM strategies deployment.(3) The program continues to work with State DOTs to support real-world WRTM implementations.

In the reporting timeframe, the RWMP continued to leverage working relationships with various partners including:

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
• National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).
• Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology (OFCM).
• American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Subcommittee on Maintenance (SCOM).
• AASHTO Snow and Ice Cooperative Program (SICOP).
• World Road Association (PIARC).
• Clear Roads Pooled Fund Program.
• Aurora Pooled Fund Program.
• American Meteorological Society (AMS) – Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and Surface Transportation Weather Committee.
• National Weather Service (NWS).
• Transportation Research Board (TRB) – Surface Transportation, Winter Maintenance and other Committees.
• Intelligent Transportation Society of America.
• State DOTs.
• Traffic Management Center Pooled Fund Program.
• American Public Works Association (APWA).
• Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE).

These partnerships are leading to important tangible accomplishments, such as the transition from Clarus to Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System (MADIS). Another example includes the Pathfinder project, which seeks to provide guidance on how the NWS, State DOTs, and the weather enterprise can develop mutually beneficial partnerships. Table 1 summarizes the key stakeholder coordination activities in this track during this time period.

Program and System Performance Management

RWMP continues to support ongoing performance management of the program and the overall road weather management systems and practices in the country (Table 2). RWMP is continuing an assessment of the impact of weather on freight movement. The RWMP is also supporting a self-assessment tool for agencies or regions to identify actions for improving road weather management from an institutional perspective, building off the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP2) Capability Maturity Models. The framework provides a structure for assessing current strengths and weakness and identifying targeted actions for improving capabilities. The program is also compiling benefit-cost analysis studies to further support continued growth in RWMP adoption.

Road Weather Research and Development – Data

In previous program performance updates, the Clarus program was the dominant research and development (R&D) effort in the area of road weather data. Activities focused on creating a national system of quality-checked sensor data from fixed road weather information systems (RWIS) operated by State and local agencies.⁽⁴⁾ In 2013, the Clarus research ended and the system was turned off. NOAA is transitioning the road weather data network to MADIS and currently working with State DOTs to secure data sharing agreements.⁽⁵⁾ To support the national research agenda, particularly the Connected Vehicle research initiative sponsored by the ITS-JPO, the Clarus system has been transitioned to Weather Data Environment (WDE), a research-oriented system of environmental sensor system (ESS) data.

Advancing the capability and use of RWIS continues to be an important element of the RWMP program. The program continues to participate in pooled fund efforts such as Clear Roads and Aurora to support greater standardization of RWIS, guidelines for RWIS installation and siting, and sensor improvements.

Research and development efforts in recent years have focused on developing new capabilities and tools to collect, process, and distribute mobile data (Table 3). The program has been an active participant in the ITS-JPO Real-Time Data Capture and Management program (DCM). The program's investments in this area for road weather management include the following activities:

• Vehicle data translator (VDT), a tool to translate mobile observations to usable weather/road weather data.
• Integrated mobile observations (IMO) program, which seeks to demonstrate the collection of mobile data from maintenance fleets for operations.
• Participation in Connected Vehicle Standards development from a road weather standpoint.

Road Weather Research and Development – Applications

Making systems management and operations-related decisions based on road weather observations and forecasts continue to be a challenge for many State and local agencies. In the previous update, program activities created a suite of decision-support tools using Clarus data.

Since 2012, the emphasis has shifted to developing and demonstrating connected vehicle applications that use mobile data. The program has identified a roadmap to design, test, and develop applications related to Connected Vehicles and weather, with close linkages to the larger Connected Vehicle research program tracks like the Dynamic Mobility Applications (DMA) and Applications for the Environment: Real-Time Information Synthesis (AERIS). The development of this roadmap started with the Vision for Use of Connected Vehicle Data in Practical Road Weather Applications document completed by NCAR, which focused on the applications emerging from the use of vehicle data translator, and continued with the Road Weather Connected Vehicle Application Scenario document.

Activities under this track will create the next generation of applications and services that assess, forecast, and address the impacts weather has on roads, vehicles, and travel, and develop algorithms and capabilities to translate mobile data into usable weather and road condition observations. Currently, the RWMP is supporting several development efforts for the Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) track including:

• Developing the Motorists Advisories and Warnings (MAW) application which uses Connected Vehicle data to provide road weather advisories and warnings in near real time.
• Supporting the development of spot weather impact warning (SWIW) applications for commercial vehicles.
• Developing an Enhanced Maintenance Decision Support System (EMDSS). The MDSS initiative transitioned from research to implementation activities led by State and Local agencies. Current enhancements include integrating connected vehicle data with prototype MDSS to provide spot specific road weather forecasts and recommendations.
• Supporting a benefit-cost analysis for connected vehicle applications to estimate potential national costs and benefits resulting from the implementation of connected vehicle applications.

Table 4 lists the new activities in this area since 2012.

Weather-Responsive Traffic Management

Weather-Responsive Traffic Management (WRTM) strategies support the ability of agencies to provide travelers with safe and reliable traffic conditions during adverse weather. The RWMP continues to review current practices, document the benefits of existing approaches, and identify needs, such as strategies applicable for use on arterials, freeways, and rural roads. In the past two years, the program has supported six implementation projects of innovative WRTM practices in Utah, Wyoming, Michigan, Oregon, and South Dakota. The following WRTM strategies are being implemented in the States:

• Citizen Reporters to improve road condition reporting and traveler information (Utah DOT).
• Weather Responsive Traffic Signal Control (Utah DOT).
• Weather Responsive Active Transportation Management (Oregon DOT).
• Mobile application-reported data from snow plows for traffic management and traveler information (Wyoming DOT).
• MDSS data to augment road condition reporting systems and traveler information (South Dakota DOT).
• Mobile data from vehicle fleets to support traveler information (Michigan DOT).

To support continued growth in WRTM adoption, the program is investing in analysis, modeling, and simulation (AMS) tool development. Activities relating to AMS include projects to support State-level testing and implementation of Traffic Estimation and Prediction System (TrEPS), development of integrated road condition modeling system concepts, as well as participation in the Active Transportation Demand Management (ATDM) test beds. Another activity promoted by the program in this track relates to messaging guidelines for State and local agencies to use during adverse weather. Table 5 lists the activities for the WRTM initiative.

Technology Transfer, Training, and Education

Providing training, education, technical assistance, technology transfer, and resources to assist RWM practitioners in State DOTs and other transportation agencies to more fully consider weather in their management and operational responsibilities has been an important component of the RWMP since its inception. The RWMP has produced and made available through its website various outreach documents, technical reports, and papers. In 2012, the program broadened this objective to focus on expanding and strengthening the range of road weather capabilities throughout the transportation industry. The RWMP is also beginning a knowledge and technology transfer (KTT) activity that will coordinate various outreach and training efforts conducted in future years.

The RWMP website continues to be the primary information outlet for technology transfer. The following documents were published on the website from 2012-2015:

• Road Weather Management Best Practices: Version 3.0, 2012.
• The Vision for Use of Connected Vehicle Data in Practical Road Weather Applications, 2012.
• Use of Mobile Data for Weather Responsive Traffic Management Models, 2012.
• Guidelines for the Use of Variable Speed Limit Systems in Wet Weather, 2012.
• Implementation and Evaluation of Weather Responsive Traffic Estimation and Prediction, 2012.
• Guidelines for Disseminating Road Weather Advisory and Control Information, 2012.
• Weather Delay Costs to Trucking, 2012.
• Road Weather Management Best Practices: Version 3.0, 2012.
• Road Weather Management Performance Measures: 2012-2013.
• Results from the Integrated Mobile Observations Study, 2013.
• Concept of Operations for Road Weather Connected Vehicle Applications, 2013.
• Planning for Systems Management & Operations as part of Climate Change Adaptation, 2013.
• Utah DOT Weather Responsive Traffic Signal Timing, 2013.
• Utah DOT Weather Responsive Traveler Information System, 2013.
• Utah DOT Citizen Reporting Program for Road Weather, 2013.
• Weather Responsive Traffic Signal Timing at Utah DOT, 2013.
• Guidelines for Disseminating Road Weather Messages—Improved Road Weather Information for Travelers, 2013.
• Implementation of a Weather Responsive Traffic Estimation and Prediction System (TrEPS) for Signal Timing at Utah DOT, 2014.
• Traffic Signal LED Module Specification Workshop and Informational Report for Snow Conditions, 2014.
• The Road Weather Management Benefit Cost Analysis Compendium, 2014.
• Citizen Reporting of Current Road Conditions – Experiences at Five State Departments of Transportation, 2015.

The Consortium for ITS Training and Education (CITE) at the University of Maryland helps the RWMP deliver three instructor-led, web-based ("blended") courses and online, independent study courses on Road Weather Management. The "Principles and Tools for Road Weather Management" course offers participants training on various strategies for addressing road weather problems, including RWIS and the development of cross-cutting decision support systems to respond effectively to weather situations. The "Weather Responsive Traffic Management" course provides participants with an understanding of the strategies, data types, analysis tools, and performance monitoring necessary to effectively manage traffic during weather events. Two deliveries of this course occurred in 2013. The course titled "Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS) Equipment and Operations" focuses on the value of RWIS and the benefits of RWIS to a particular region. The course provides participants with an action plan tailored for their specific regional needs.⁽⁶⁾ Since the fall of 2010, this course has been offered four times and has had consistent registration numbers. CITE now offers a certificate course in Road Weather Management to participants who have taken all three courses described above and an additional ITS-related course from their catalog. This certificate program began in 2013, and the number of participants attaining the certificate needs to be tracked in future years as part of the knowledge and technology transfer activity.

The RWMP continues to offer additional webinars through the ITS Professional Capacity Building (ITS PCB) program. From 2012 to 2014, the program offered the following webinars:

• Managing Traffic during Flood Events: Transportation Agency Experiences and Strategies.
• Performance Measures and Benefit-Cost Analysis for Weather Responsive Traffic Management.
• Connected Vehicle Reference Implementation Architecture (CVRIA) Webinar #3: Road Weather.
• Road Weather Management Best Practices.
• Active Traffic Management (ATM) and Weather.
• Benefit-Cost Tools for Weather Responsive Traffic Management.

RWMP training, education opportunities, and technical transfer activities are shown in Table 6.

Operations, Climate Change, and Sustainability

In the previous update, the program began the process of coordinating with climate change and sustainability stakeholders including helping define the Operations and Maintenance measures in the Infrastructure Voluntary Evaluation Sustainability Tool (INVEST), particularly with respect to snow and ice control. INVEST continues to be promoted by FHWA. Through work with the TRB committees and the pooled funds, the program supported the greater consideration of sustainability within the maintenance community, especially with respect to snow and ice control. Following these efforts, the program continues to work with partners and is currently developing a primer for climate change adaptation strategies, particularly in response to extreme weather. RWMP has also been supporting national workshops and symposia on the subject of extreme weather and climate change, as illustrated in Table 7.

In 2013 and 2014, the program supported AASHTO's efforts to engage stakeholders around the topic of extreme weather.^{(7, 8)} The program expects to continue supporting activities to mitigate the impact of extreme weather in 2015 by working with AASHTO and TRB. In 2015, the program will participate in at least two TRB conferences on sustainability and resilience.