Road Weather Management Program
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MDSS Product Demonstration Showcase

In Fiscal Year 2008, the FHWA worked with the American Association of State Highway Transportation Organizations (AASHTO), several public transportation agencies, the Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) and private sector vendors and developed one day Showcases on the Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) Market-Ready technology in three (3) different regions of the country: Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Idaho. The primary goal of the Showcase was to encourage implementation of the field-proven technology, MDSS.

The three Showcases provided a forum for various public transportation agency champions to "showcase" their respective deployments of the MDSS technology. The sessions were open to all transportation agencies that have snow and ice maintenance and operations responsibilities. There were over 266 registered attendees that participated in the Showcases, including employees of State DOT's, municipalities, towns, counties and international agencies. Attendees were presented with a significant amount of information on the MDSS application and how public/private partnerships are working together to improve safety and mobility during snow and ice control operations; in addition to improving productivity in a cost effective manner. The MDSS Showcases included presentations and discussions on:

  • Training
  • Communications
  • Management support
  • Set up requirements
  • Cost and expectations
  • Agency maintenance variability/practices

Bob Koberlein, Mobility Services Engineer with Idaho Transportation Department (IDT) hosted the 3rd Showcase. As Bob indicated, IDT will initially deploy MDSS in the south-central region of Idaho with aspirations to move to a wider deployment; "It certainly was helpful to assemble the national experts in MDSS at the Boise Showcase to drive home the benefits of deploying MDSS."

Please contact Ray Murphy at 708-574-8140 or ray.murphy@dot.gov if your agency is interested in hosting a MDSS Showcase and additional information.

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