MDSS and Advanced Forecasting STSMO Weather Workshop Dave Huft, SDDOT Research Program Manager September 12, 2017

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1 Connecting South Dakota and the Nation MDSS and Advanced Forecasting STSMO Weather Workshop Dave Huft, SDDOT Research Program Manager September 12,

2 Weather Impacts & Strategies Winter perceived as most significant threat to public highway safety several events/year Other severe weather high winds flooding Travel advisories Interstate closures Detours Emergency response Winter maintenance Winter maintenance decision support Traveler information 2

3 MDSS Pooled Fund Study TPF-5(347) Jointly led leadingedge R&D Convenient funding mechanism Low-risk opportunity to deploy Learning State to State Contractor to State State to Contractor Intellectual property: open but not public domain Nationally prominent forum to advance MDSS technology 3

4 Why Maintenance Decision Support? 4 Rising demands of travelers & commercial carriers High labor, material, equipment & fuel costs Constrained funding Reliable, timely condition reports hard to get Some weather conditions difficult to forecast Complex pavement response to weather, maintenance treatments New deicing chemicals & techniques Environmental concerns Staff size, turnover, and inexperience

5 What is MDSS? If you know road characteristics current conditions predicted weather physics & chemistry of snow, ice, chemicals available resources (material, equipment, schedule) MDSS can recommend treatment type application rate optimal timing and predict future road conditions with or without treatments

6 MDSS Concept Modeling Reality Driving Passing 6

7 MDSS Pooled Fund Study Example Deployment Levels 7 Each state pays its own operational costs

8 Graphical User Interface Map View

9 Graphical User Interface Route View Wind Speed/Dir Snow Rate Snow Accumulation Snow Probability Freezing Rain / Sleet Probability Rain Probability Precipitation Type Air Temp Dew Pt

10 Graphical User Interface Route View

11 Mobile Data Collection Real-time data from ~100 maintenance vehicles Location Road temperature Air temperature Observed precipitation Observed road conditions Plowing activity Chemical type & rate

12 Training & Evaluation Storm playback of recent or saved storms at userdefined pace Evaluate maintenance operations Train new employees Predict effects of programmatic changes Support emergency and traffic management

13 SDDOT Experience MDSS Mobile App 14 Android iphone Simple interface

14 Current Efforts & Concerns 15 Web-Based MDSS Mobile Data Collection Next generation MDC Expand routes & vehicles Mobile platforms Management Reports By route, vehicle, storm, season, area Intellectual Property IP generated within the Pooled Fund Study Regarding MDC

15 MDSS Pooled Fund Study Benefit/Cost Studies 16 3:1 to 8:1 b/c ratio estimate by Western Transportation Inst. Indiana 1 st -year deployment 2008/2009 $12M reduced salt use $1.3M overtime & fuel $11M overall after normalizing for winter conditions ~27% of normal winter maintenance budget SD can t estimate savings because of change to salt only at same time MnDOT savings winter

16 17 Traveler Information Media

17 Where We Were Limitations 18 Road conditions reported by SDDOT maintenance staff, not 24/7 Off-hours info could be outdated or misleading Travel info did not directly use: Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) road condition forecasts Maintenance Data Collector (MDC) observations Environmental Sensor Station (ESS) observations Some important NWS messages Weather-related travel info did not get to DMS

18 MDSS Feed to Travel Info (SD 24-hour road condition threats) 19

19 MDSS-Based Threat Forecasts Can view base layer with threat forecast shown 20

20 Threat Text Description 24-Hour Threat Forecast (What is this?) The following road condition threats are forecasted for 10AM CST Sat through 10AM CST Sun. Actual road conditions may vary from this forecast. Motorists are cautioned to be alert to changing conditions. from Junction South Dakota 47 North-Bowdle to Junction South Dakota 247- Roscoe lightly icy road conditions possible between approximately 9PM Sat and 7AM Sun. from Junction South Dakota 247-Roscoe to Junction South Dakota 45 South- Ipswich lightly slushy/icy road conditions possible between approximately 7PM Sat and 9AM Sun. 21 from Junction South Dakota 45 South-Ipswich to 7.75 miles east of Junction South Dakota 45 North snowy/slushy/icy road conditions possible between approximately 7PM Sat and 6AM Sun.

21 Extent of Use for Threat Layer Most requests for road segment reports originated from regular road conditions map 80% from regular map 20% from threat map Regardless of origin, 2/3 of requested segments contained threat information typically more significant content for current and forecasted conditions 22

22 23 Ease of Use

23 24 Usefulness of Information

24 25 Impact on Driving Behavior

25 26 SDDOT ESS Website/Apps

26 Next Steps Underway 27 Continue use of weather threats Mobile app for road condition reporting Expansion of ESS network Traffic incidents via link to SDHP dispatch More complete construction & maintenance info Use variable speed limits based on: road condition surface condition visibility prevailing speed More proactive use of DMS in weatherrelated events

27 Questions? Please contact: SDDOT Office of Research Dave Huft Phone: Fax: Thank you!