Modeling the Macroscopic Effects of Winter Maintenance Operations on Traffic Mobility on Washington Highways

In the northern states and other cold regions, winter maintenance operations play a significant role in how effective or ineffective the transportation system is during snowy or icy weather. Data modeling and analytical tools are much needed to optimize passenger and freight movements, taking into consideration the impacts of winter weather as well as winter maintenance operations. Recent years have seen increased use of anti-icing strategy and smart snowplow technologies for highway winter maintenance operations. When implemented appropriately, anti-icing (a proactive strategy) has demonstrated significant benefits in traffic mobility and safety, compared with conventional deicing (a reactive strategy). Smart snowplow technologies have shown their benefits in improving the level of service on winter highways as well. The mobility effects of such best practices, however, remain anecdotal and need to be systematically investigated and quantified. It is the intent of this study to lay the foundational work for modeling the macroscopic effects of winter maintenance operations (including the aforementioned best practices) on traffic mobility in the Pacific Northwest, with the first case study conducted on Washington highways.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $112505
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3551747133

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Center for Advanced Multimodal Mobility Solutions and Education

  University of North Carolina, Charlotte
  Charlotte, NC  United States  28223

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  University of North Carolina, Charlotte

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  9201 University City Boulevard
  Charlotte, NC  United States  28223-0001
• Project Managers:

  Fan, Wei

• Performing Organizations:

  Washington State University

  PO Box 646210
  Pullman, Washington  United States  99164-6210
• Principal Investigators:

  Shi, Xianming

• Start Date: 20171001
• Expected Completion Date: 20190930
• Actual Completion Date: 20190930

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Best practices; Data analysis; Decision support systems; Highways; Macroscopic traffic flow; Mobility; Winter maintenance
• Geographic Terms: Washington (State)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01652828
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Center for Advanced Multimodal Mobility Solutions and Education
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551747133
• Files: UTC, RiP
• Created Date: Dec 3 2017 11:28AM