2015 Road Weather Management Performance Measures Survey, Analysis, and Report

Publication No. FHWA-HOP-16-001

January 2016

United States Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration

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Table of Contents

[ Notice and Quality Assurance Statement ] [ Technical Report Documentation Page ] [ List of Abbreviations and Symbols ]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. INTRODUCTION
	Project Scope and Objectives
	Organization of Report
CHAPTER 2. ONGOING ROAD WEATHER MANAGEMENT PROGRAM ACTIVITIES
	Stakeholder Coordination
	Program and System Performance Management
	Road Weather Research and Development – Data
	Road Weather Research and Development – Applications
	Weather-Responsive Traffic Management
	Technology Transfer, Training, and Education
	Operations, Climate Change, and Sustainability
CHAPTER 3. CHANGES IN PERFORMANCE MEASURES
	Gaps In Performance Measurement
		Extent of Use and Adoption of Mobile Data-based Applications
		Climate Change/Extreme Weather/Resilience
		Section 1201 Rule Compliance
		Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System Transition
		Expanding Partnerships
		Mainstreaming of Road Weather Management Programs
		Performance Measurement/Continuous Improvement of Road Weather Management Programs
	Updated Performance Measures for 2015
	Quantifying Measures
		Assumptions, Challenges, and Constraints
	Performance Results
CHAPTER 4. OBJECTIVE 1: BUILD AND SUSTAIN RELATIONSHIPS WITH MULTI-DISCIPLINARY PARTNERS TO EXPAND ROAD WEATHER MANAGEMENT DEPLOYMENTS
	PM #1: Number of agencies participating in road weather Research and Development projects
	PM #2: Number of agencies participating in and benefiting from road weather management stakeholder meetings/workshops
	Summary
CHAPTER 5. OBJECTIVE 2: ENSURE ROAD WEATHER MANAGEMENT INVESTMENTS IMPROVE HIGHWAY PERFORMANCE
	PM #3: Number of agencies that collect and report road weather-related performance measures to the public
	PM #4: Number of agencies that have a process for evaluating the return on investment or net benefit of their road weather management investments
	PM #5: Reductions in agency costs of winter weather-related maintenance and operations activities
	PM #6: Reduction in number and types of fatalities and crashes attributed to adverse weather nationally
	PM #7: Reduction in the extent of capacity losses and delays due to fog, snow, and ice events including freight
	PM #8: Increase in travel time reliability or decrease in variability due to road weather management strategies during adverse weather scenarios
	PM #9: Reduction in the number of tons of salt or chemical usage in the United states normalized by Winter Severity Index
	Summary
CHAPTER 6. OBJECTIVE 3: TRANSPORTATION, WEATHER, AND RESEARCH COMMUNITIES USE AND RELY UPON FIXED AND MOBILE ROAD WEATHER OBSERVATIONS
	PM #10: Number of State departments of transportation that are participants in the Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System program
	PM #11: Number of State Departments of Transportation that subscribe to road weather products and services
	PM #12: Number of State Departments of Transportation collecting mobile observations of road weather data from appropriate vehicle fleets
	PM #13: Number of State Departments of Transportation reporting the use of Environmental Sensor Stations in operations and maintenance activities
	Summary
CHAPTER 7. OBJECTIVE 4: ADVANCE THE STATE OF THE ART FOR MOBILE SENSING AND INTEGRATING VEHICLE DATA INTO ROAD WEATHER APPLICATIONS
	PM #14: Number of/percentage of responding agencies using mobile data-based applications in road weather management
	Summary
CHAPTER 8. OBJECTIVE 5: ADVANCE THE STATE OF THE PRACTICE BY PROMOTING TAILORED MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIFFERENT REGIONS
	PM #15: Number of States disseminating weather advisory and other road weather information to travelers
	PM #16: Number of agencies using control and treatment strategies during weather events
	PM #17: Number of agencies that have participated in or conducted road weather management capability maturity assessment exercises
	PM #18: Number of agencies that coordinate with their local forecast offices for road weather management and operations
	Summary
CHAPTER 9. OBJECTIVE 6: WEATHER-RELATED DECISION SUPPORT TECHNOLOGIES ARE INTEGRATED INTO TRAFFIC OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES
	PM #19: Number of agencies adopting maintenance decision support systems technologies and methods
	PM #20: Number of agencies using other weather-related decision-support tools
	PM #21: Number of agencies reporting use of appropriate analysis tools to factor weather impacts and strategies
	Summary
CHAPTER 10. OTHER STRATEGIES
	PM #22: Number of agencies and attendees who have taken any of the training courses and workshops sponsored by the road weather management program
	PM #23: Number of agencies and participants in road weather management webinars led by the road weather management program
	PM #24: Number of meetings, site visits, or venues where road weather management presentations/briefings were made
	PM #25: Number of hits/visits to road weather management program website
	Summary
CHAPTER 11. BCA STUDIES USING MULTIPLE STRATEGIES
	PM #26: Number of public agencies meeting sustainability criteria related to road weather management
	PM #27: Number of agencies conducting vulnerability/risk assessments, developing/implementing resiliency plans or adaptation plans, for their road weather management infrastructure and processes to respond to climate change and extreme weather
	Summary
CHAPTER 12. CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 13. RECOMMENDATIONS
APPENDIX A. ASSESSING PERFORMANCE ADVANCES ACROSS OBJECTIVES
APPENDIX B. STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION SURVEY SUMMARY

List of Figures

Figure 1.	Illustration. Project Activities.
Figure 2.	Chart. Map of the 2015 State Survey Respondents (shown in blue).
Figure 3.	Graph. State Participation in Stakeholder Meetings Organized by Road Weather Management Program.
Figure 4.	Graph. Number of Agencies that Evaluate Return-on-Investment or Net Benefits of Road Weather Management.
Figure 5.	Graph. Annual Expenditures for Snow and Ice Removal (State and Local Governments).
Figure 6.	Graph. Fatal Crash Rates per 1,000 Licensed Drivers (2001-2013).
Figure 7.	Graph. Fatal Crash Rates per Billion Vehicle Miles Traveled (2001-2013).
Figure 8.	Chart. State Departments of Transportation Participating in the Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System Program.
Figure 9.	Graph. Percent of States that Subscribe to Weather and Road Weather Products and Services.
Figure 10.	Graph. Number of State Departments of Transportation Collecting Data from Maintenance Vehicles and From What Percentage of Applicable Fleets.
Figure 11.	Graph. Use of Environmental Sensor Stations at State Departments of Transportation.
Figure 12.	Graph. Percentage of State Departments of Transportation Using Mobile Data-Based Applications in Road Weather Management.
Figure 13.	Graph. Number of States Disseminating Weather Advisory and Other Road Weather Information to Travelers, By Type.
Figure 14.	Graph. Information Dissemination Strategies.
Figure 15.	Graph. Types of Hazards for Which State Departments of Transportation Have Safety Warning Systems.
Figure 16.	Graph. Level of Deployment of Control and Treatment Strategies during Weather Events.
Figure 17.	Graph. Level of Coordination between State Departments of Transportation and National Weather Service Local Forecast Offices for Road Weather Management and Operations Activities.
Figure 18.	Graph. Percent of State Departments of Transportation Indicating Use or Non-Use of Maintenance Decision Support Systems.
Figure 19.	Graph. Percent of State Departments of Transportation Using Weather-Related Decision Support Tools for Road Weather Management.
Figure 20.	Graph. Percent of State Departments of Transportation Using Weather-Responsive Traffic Analysis and Simulation Tools for Planning and Evaluating Road Weather Management Strategies.
Figure 21.	Graph. Percent of Agencies Meeting Sustainability Criteria Related to Road Weather Management.
Figure 22.	Graph. Percent of Agencies Involved in Extreme Weather or Climate Change Activities.
Figure 23.	Chart. Responses from State Department of Transportation Survey Question 4.
Figure 24.	Chart. Responses from State Department of Transportation Survey Question 7.
Figure 25.	Chart. Responses from State Department of Transportation Survey Question 9.
Figure 26.	Chart. Responses from State Department of Transportation Survey Question 10.
Figure 27.	Chart. Responses from State Department of Transportation Survey Question 11.
Figure 28.	Chart. Responses from State Department of Transportation Survey Question 12.
Figure 29.	Chart. Responses from State Department of Transportation Survey Question 13.
Figure 30.	Chart. Responses from State Department of Transportation Survey Question 14.
Figure 31.	Chart. Responses from State Department of Transportation Survey Question 15.
Figure 32.	Chart. Responses from State Department of Transportation Survey Question 16a.
Figure 33.	Chart. Responses from State Department of Transportation Survey Question 16b.
Figure 34.	Chart. Responses from State Department of Transportation Survey Question 17.
Figure 35.	Chart. Responses from State Department of Transportation Survey Question 18.
Figure 36.	Chart. Responses from State Department of Transportation Survey Question 19.

List of Tables

Table 1.	Stakeholder Coordination Activities.
Table 2.	Program and Performance Measurement Activities.
Table 3.	Activities in Road Weather Research and Development Activities Related to Data.
Table 4.	Road Weather Research and Development Related to Applications.
Table 5.	Weather-Responsive Traffic Management Program Activities.
Table 6.	Training, Education, and Technical Transfer Activities.
Table 7.	Activities Related to Linking Climate Change and Environment and Road Weather Management.
Table 8.	Updated Performance Measures for 2015.
Table 9.	List of State Departments of Transportation Participating in Road Weather Management Program Research and Development Efforts.
Table 10.	Participation by Type in Road Weather Management Program Stakeholder Meetings in 2012, 2013, and 2014.
Table 11.	All Fatal Crashes versus Fatal Crashes during Inclement Weather.
Table 12.	Weather-related Crash Statistics (Annual Average).
Table 13.	Examples of Road Weather Management Program Strategies Aimed at Reducing Crashes.
Table 14.	Traffic Flow Impacts Due to Road Weather Management Program Identified Best Practice Technologies and Techniques.
Table 15.	National Salt Consumption from Road Deicing.
Table 16.	Examples of State Winter Severity Indices.
Table 17.	Rankings of Selected Control and Treatment Strategies (2013 and 2015).
Table 18.	Road Weather Management Program-sponsored Training Courses and Workshops.
Table 19.	Consortium for Intelligent Transportation Systems Training and Education-sponsored Training Courses and Workshops.
Table 20.	Participation in Road Weather Management Program Webinars.
Table 21.	Road Weather Management Program Website Hits, Page Views, and Visitors.
Table 22.	Performance Advances across the Twenty-seven Performance Measures and the Eight Program Objectives.
Table 23.	State Department of Transportation Survey Question 4 and Associated Responses.
Table 24.	State Department of Transportation Survey Question 5 and Associated Responses.
Table 25.	Department of Transportation Survey Question 6 and Associated Responses.
Table 26.	State Department of Transportation Survey Question 7 and Associated Responses.
Table 27.	State Department of Transportation Survey Question 8 and Associated Responses.
Table 28.	State Department of Transportation Survey Question 9 and Associated Responses.
Table 29.	State Department of Transportation Survey Question 10 and Associated Responses.
Table 30.	State Department of Transportation Survey Question 11 and Associated Responses.
Table 31.	State Department of Transportation Survey Question 12 and Associated Responses.
Table 32.	State Department of Transportation Survey Question 13 and Associated Responses.
Table 33.	State Department of Transportation Survey Question 14 and Associated Responses.
Table 34.	State Department of Transportation Survey Question 15 and Associated Responses.
Table 35.	State Department of Transportation Survey Question 16 and Associated Responses.
Table 36.	State Department of Transportation Survey Question 17 and Associated Responses.
Table 37.	State Department of Transportation Survey Question 18 and Associated Responses.
Table 38.	State Department of Transportation Survey Question 19 and Associated Responses.
Table 39.	State Department of Transportation Survey Question 20 and Associated Responses.