Improving Business Processes for More Effective Transportation Systems Management and Operations

Chapter 6. Road Weather Management

6.1 Road Weather Management Business Processes

Weather events and their impacts on roads are often viewed as sources of nonrecurring congestion that can affect the safety, productivity, and reliability of roadways. Inclement weather (seen in Figure 4), can negatively affect driver behavior and vehicle and roadway performance, and these can increase risks of crashes, cause vehicle delay because of reduced speeds, reduce roadway capacity, or result in roadway closures. Weather effects are not constrained by artificial boundaries (jurisdictions), and they can occur on all types of roadways, including both urban and rural roads. Weather effects also span town, county, and state borders, which pose unique challenges for managing large-scale weather events like snow, floods, wind, fog, and heavy rain.

Figure 4. Photo. Example of weather management.
(Source: Virginia Department of Transportation)

Effective road weather management includes multistate coordination and complex cooperation and partnerships between traffic operations, maintenance units, and public safety departments. Strategies for road weather management include advisory, control, and treatment strategies.⁸

Advisory strategies provide advance notice and up-to-date information about roadway conditions to transportation managers and travelers so that management and traveling can be planned accordingly. Control strategies regulate roadway capacity and traffic flow by reducing vehicle speed and volume. Treatment strategies minimize or eliminate weather impacts, such as applying sand or salt to icy roads to improve traction.

All three strategies will involve business processes to effectively implement and manage roadways in inclement weather. Moreover, business processes would address management activities and operational strategies before the weather event (during evacuations), during the event (treatment), and following the event (when returning to 'normal' as soon as possible following the weather-based disruptions).

Often, road weather management is largely the responsibility of maintenance units, because they typically have access to real-time information from road weather sensors, are responsible for the equipment used in weather response, and have staff resources who are trained in responding to road weather events. Operations staff, such as those at a Transportation Management Center, also have a key role in monitoring road conditions. They issue notifications through traveler information systems, implement traffic control strategies, or directly coordinate with or request support from other entities during a road weather event. Large-scale events will likely involve public safety and law enforcement, and partner transportation agencies (within a region or across state lines), as well as the media to help broadcast alerts and warnings to the public.
Key business processes for road weather management are as follows:

• Program plan
• Funding and resource needs identified as part of program budget
• Defined roles and responsibilities
• Performance outcomes informing program needs
• Framework or agreements for multiagency coordination

Several strategies and processes within road weather management leverage similar relationships and response coordination for traffic incidents or work zones. Modifying or changing business processes for road weather management will typically extend to multiple groups or partner agencies to be effective.

The following are guiding questions that can be used to identify business process issues related to road weather management:

• Is specific funding identified for agency road weather management programs?
• How are emergency funds allocated for responding to sustained or significant annual weather events?
• Are processes and assets scalable to address needs when complexity and scale of response increases?
• Is there a strategic plan for road weather management within the agency?
• How are Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO)-related technologies and centers kept operational during major weather events, including back-up plans and capabilities?
• Do procurement or contracting processes support acquiring new equipment or enhancing existing equipment and resources for road weather management?
• How are multiagency partners engaged in the planning for road weather response strategies? Are these strategies and partnerships documented or formalized in an agreement?
• Are lines of communication established within the agency for large-scale responses to road weather events? Are similar lines of communication with external partners involved in the response?
• Can agencies actively influence traffic and travel behavior—via TSMO strategies and supporting technologies—before, during, and immediately following a road weather event?
• Are processes in place to share real-time weather data with operations staff and divisions?
• Do staff have resources, such as decision support tools, to implement specific responses to different weather events?
• Are road weather management performance metrics incorporated into future planning needs, including staff resource needs?
• Are training opportunities for road weather management available to agency or partner staff?
• Are processes available to integrate road weather management into broader corridor operations strategies and procedures?

Examples of where failed business processes lead to ineffective road weather management includes situations where information regarding weather management strategies, such as road closures or detours, is limited or not shared between states. This can result in some travelers not being aware of a closed road and the creation of extensive traffic delays. Similarly, availability and sharing of data within and between agencies are imperative for effective roadway management (for example, between traffic operations center and maintenance unit or between state departments of transportation).

Table 5 outlines potential business process challenges for various stages of road weather management. These challenges can be examined during the course of road weather strategy planning or weather event debriefings to identify potential limitations or issues that can be addressed through improving the corresponding business processes.

Table 5. Road weather management business process challenges.

Road Weather Management Elements	Road Weather Management Potential Business Processes Challenges
Program Planning	A road weather management plan (or similar strategy) is not in place or does not fully address activities before, during, and immediately following a weather event. Roles and responsibilities are not documented or distributed to all entities involved in road weather management. Multiagency road weather coordination planning and training are not routinely conducted or updated based on lessons learned. Annual budgets are insufficient for unplanned or extreme weather seasons. No process exists for adequately maintaining (including 'hardening') the equipment so it can remain operational during a weather event or for replacing equipment essential to road weather management. Annual budgeting processes do not capture the full range of staff or contractor resources required. Planning for enhancing the road weather program over time is limited. Coordination between operations and maintenance staff to clearly define roles and responsibilities is minimal.
Strategy Implementation	Communications among multiple partners involved in road weather response are neither consistent nor do they have clear lines of authority. Adequate supplies of needed road weather treatments are not available because of budget shortfalls or unexpected delays. Lack of a communication plan leads to conflicting information being provided to travelers through multiple channels (such as agencies and media). Contingency plans are not in place to address multiple impacts of weather events. Real-time weather data are not available to all divisions or groups that need it for their operations and response decision-making. Decision are made ad-hoc with limited scenario planning, training, or decision support capabilities.
Post-Event Documentation and Debriefings	No consistent procedure for multiagency debriefings following significant weather event response is available. Resources used are not well documented or accounted for, which limits lessons learned from being applied to future weather event planning. Statistics and performance metrics are not captured to be able to better inform resource needs or changes to strategies for future weather events.

6.2 Road Weather Business Process Case Studies

6.2.1 Improved Coordination on I-80 Provides More Advanced Notice to Travelers and Freight Movers of Winter Closures in Nevada and California

Road weather management business processes addressed in this case study are as follows:

• Defined roles and responsibilities
• Framework or agreements for multiagency coordination

Managing traffic on Interstate 80 (I-80) during winter conditions—and, in particular, during 'traffic holds' at the California/Nevada state line—has been the basis of several key planning strategies between the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) and California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), as well as law enforcement from both states.

For Nevada, the need to inform westbound travelers (particularly freight travelers in winter) has been the impetus for NDOT installing traveler information infrastructure (including dynamic message signs, warning beacons, and highway advisory radio) in advance of key decision points along westbound I-80 to allow travelers to choose an alternate route. Freight drivers can either decide to find allowable parking at suitable off-highway facilities further east on I-80 or use alternate routes to reach their westbound destinations. Multistate coordination with Utah and Wyoming means that significant traffic holds lasting several hours will initiate notifications as far east as Wyoming.

During winter months, Caltrans opens its Winter Operations Center in Kingvale so that resources can be based near the I-80 corridor to better respond to weather-related conditions and incidents during winter. Caltrans and NDOT also have established agreements and policies for traffic holds at the state line when winter weather makes it unsafe for freight to travel over the mountain pass. Winter operations needs determine the staff resource requirements for both agencies. Caltrans uses temporary employees to help with chain requirements on I-80 during the winter driving season. Historical data from prior driving seasons are used to estimate resource needs (staff and funding), and Caltrans budgets annually for staff hours and housing at the Kingvale Winter Operations Center.

6.2.2 Maintenance Decision Support System Helps Winter Maintenance Budget in Indiana

Road weather management business processes addressed in this case study are as follows:

• Funding and resource needs identified as part of program budget
• Performance outcomes informing program needs

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) uses a maintenance decision support system (MDSS) to integrate relevant weather forecasts, winter maintenance rules of practice, and maintenance resource data to recommend appropriate road treatment strategies during winter weather. INDOT underwent program pilot testing in 2002, as part of a pooled study with other states (North and South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa) using a federal prototype MDSS. INDOT implemented the program statewide in 2008 and 2009, which required significant changes in INDOT's winter maintenance procedures and the mindset of employees.

An important part of the MDSS program is the outreach plan. INDOT developed and provided training to winter maintenance personnel throughout the state using the MDSS. INDOT also developed and implemented change management strategies to understand how the program will affect a large organization and communicated the reasons for the change throughout the organization to gain early acceptance of MDSS at all levels. Implementing the MDSS has led to significant fiscal and resource benefits for INDOT, including savings of more than $12 million from reducing salt use by more than 228,000 tons (40.9 percent) and close to $1.4 million by reducing overtime compensation by 58,000 hours (27.5 percent).