Road Weather Information System (RWIS) Statewide Implementation Plan
The road weather information system (RWIS) network is a collection of environmental sensor stations (ESS), which gives state departments of transportation (DOTs) unprecedented access to detailed, accurate, timely, and roadway-relevant weather information to effectively and efficiently promote safety, mobility and productivity in the face of weather-related challenges. ESSs currently installed across the United States are providing valuable road weather data to the DOTs, which have been integrated into winter maintenance decision support systems (MDSS) to assist maintenance managers about road treatments, such as salting, plowing, or a combination of approaches. The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has a very limited network of RWIS stations in various states of disrepair. A comprehensive plan is needed to upgrade (if appropriate) and expand the existing network to better serve current operational needs and support a future MDSS. The objective of this project is to develop a detailed plan for deploying a statewide RWIS to support both current NYSDOT operations and future use MDSS applications. To develop the RWIS implementation plan, various information and data sources shall be visited, including the current condition of NYSDOT's RWIS network, potential RWIS station sites, data needed for supporting statewide MDSS applications, and NYS meteorological zones. A GIS-based model shall be developed to optimize the RWIS network, considering contiguous segments having similar maintenance requirements by associating them with features that can affect the degree of required road maintenance (e.g. topography, meteorology, traffic, etc.). Optimally, the RWIS network shall allow winter road maintenance agencies to make decisions based on accurate and timely weather information, which ultimately leads to a higher level of service and reduced weather-related congestion delay and accidents, reduced cost, redundancy and environmental/ecological impacts, more efficient use of manpower, contractor services, fleet, and asset management, and increased accountability resulting in more prudent and efficient spending. It is expected that the efficient and effective RWIS network used in conjunction with a future NYSDOT MDSS model will achieve significant operational savings while maintaining acceptable levels of service, particularly in the winter months.
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Completed
- Funding: $239735.00
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Contract Numbers:
55505-02-05
49997-19-24
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Sponsor Organizations:
Research and Innovative Technology Administration
University Transportation Centers Program
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Project Managers:
Mooney, Deborah
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Performing Organizations:
New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
University Heights
Newark, NJ United States 07102-1982 -
Principal Investigators:
Chien, Steven
- Start Date: 20120701
- Expected Completion Date: 0
- Actual Completion Date: 20140331
- Source Data: RiP Project 31743
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Geographic information systems; Level of service; Road weather information systems
- Identifier Terms: Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS)
- Uncontrolled Terms: Environmental sensor stations
- Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01495072
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: University Transportation Research Center
- Contract Numbers: 55505-02-05, 49997-19-24
- Files: UTC, RIP
- Created Date: Oct 8 2013 1:01AM