Best Practices for Road Weather Management Version 2.0
Title:
Evaluation of the U.S. 395 Road-Weather ITS Systems: FY99 Federal Earmark, Spokane, Washington
Abstract:
This paper reports on the findings from an evaluation of a Fiscal Year 1999 rural federal earmark project. The project resulted in the deployment of new road-weather information systems in the northeastern section of Washington State. These systems included two RWIS stations, three cameras, two mobile Highway Advisory Radio (HAR) systems, and enhanced information posted on the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) web site. The purpose of the evaluation was to assess the mobility, safety, and maintenance and operations benefits from these rural ITS facilities. A particular focus was to assess the benefits experienced by Commercial Vehicle Operators (CVOs) and private travelers in a mountainous, rural setting during winter driving conditions, using telephone and Internet surveys. Potential efficiency and safety benefits were carefully examined with regard to WSDOT's maintenance and operations in the study region, based on detailed weather event records and telephone interviews. The paper concludes that even limited ITS road-weather information systems can offer significant benefits both to state DOT operations and to commercial and private travelers in these rural areas. Guided by this evaluation, WSDOT also plans to expand their use of RWIS and cameras in rural locations to further extend coverage and benefits.
Source(s):
ITS America Annual Meeting; Battelle Memorial Institute and Meyer, Mohaddes Associates. For an electronic copy of this resource, please direct your request to WeatherFeedback@dot.gov.
Date: 2003
Author:
Cluett, Kitchener, Frevert, Conger
Keywords:
Environmental Sensor Station (ESS)
Internet/web site
Benefits
Winter storm
Safety
Productivity
Observing network
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