Final Evaluation Report:
Evaluation of the Idaho Transportation Department
Integrated Road-Weather Information System
Evaluation of the Idaho Transportation Department
Integrated Road-Weather Information System
Final Evaluation ReportContract Number: DTFH61-96-C-00077Task Number: BA7730Evaluation of the Idaho Transportation Department Integrated Road-Weather Information SystemView PDF Version
Prepared for:U.S. Department of TransportationITS Joint Program Office, HOIT-1Washington, DC 20590
Prepared by:BattelleFebruary 2, 2006
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Quality Assurance Statement
The Federal Highway Administration provides high-quality information to serve Government, industry, and the public in a manner that promotes public understanding. Standards and policies are used to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of its information. FHWA periodically reviews quality issues and adjusts its programs and processes to ensure continuous quality improvement.
The national evaluation of the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) Integrated Road-Weather Information System (RWIS) project was performed under Battelle’s contract DTFH61-96-C-00077, Task BA7730 with the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT). The evaluation supports the on-going efforts of the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Joint Program Office (JPO) to assess the benefits of ITS deployments in the United States.
Battelle wishes to acknowledge the guidance provided to the evaluation team by Dr. Joseph Peters, who manages the national evaluation program within the JPO; Mr. Pierre Youssef of Mitretek, who provided evaluation support to the JPO; and Mr. Bryon Breen, Assistant State Maintenance Engineer and ITS project manager of the Idaho Transportation Department, who served as the Idaho Transportation Department technical point of contract for the evaluation.
Battelle also wishes to acknowledge the many other ITD staff who provided invaluable support to this evaluation, including David Jones (Maintenance Engineer); Tony Ernest and Leonard Baxter (Maintenance Section); Greg Clark and James Taylor (Information Services); Mike Elmer (Highway Safety); Lisa Fox and Tom Marks (GIS); Glenda Fuller (Traffic Survey and Analysis); Jeff Stratten (Public Information Officer); Sandy Frazier (Telecommunications Coordinator); and the many ITD Maintenance Foremen and District staff who participated in the survey and discussion groups. Finally, Battelle wishes to thank Hau Hagedorn (now with Oregon Department of Transportation) and Zack Radick of Castle Rock Consultants, project consultants to ITD, for their assistance.
RWIDS as an ITD Maintenance Information Resource
RWIDS as a Traveler Information Resource
RWIDS as a Data Integration Platform
1.0 Introduction and Background
2.1.1 Development of Discussion Guides
2.1.2 Selection of Interviewees
2.2.1 ITD Headquarters – Project and Senior Management
2.2.2 ITD Headquarters – Information Technologies (IT) Staff
2.2.3 ITD Headquarters – Public Information Officer
2.2.4 Field Maintenance – Foreman and Lead Workers.
Usage and Usefulness of the RWIDS Webpage
Other Types and Sources of Information
RWIDS Enhancements – Next Steps
3.1.1 Public Website Usage Analysis
3.1.2 ITD Website Usage Analysis
3.2.1 Public Website Usage Analysis
Usage by RWIDS Information Type
3.2.2 ITD Website Usage Analysis
5.0 Maintenance Resource Analysis
6.0 Public Web Survey Analysis
7.0 Commercial Vehicle Operator Interviews
7.2.2 General Traveler Information Strategies
Information Sources and Frequency of Use
Drivers’ Utilization of Traveler Information
Satisfaction and Suggested Improvements
7.2.3 ITD Traveler Information Utilization
Usage of the Road Report Webpage
8.0 Conclusions and Recommendations
8.1 Evaluation Hypotheses and Findings
8.2.1 RWIDS as an ITD Maintenance Information Resource
8.2.2 RWIDS as a Traveler Information Resource
8.2.3 RWIDS as a Data Integration Platform
Appendix A. RWIDS Webpage Screen Captures
Appendix B. Winter Maintenance Resource Consumption by Districts
Appendix C. Public Web Survey Interface
Appendix D. Public Web Survey Results
List of Tables
Table 1–1. Hypotheses Addressed by the Evaluation
Table 2–1. ITD Field Personnel Interviewees
Table 2–2. ITD Maintenance Survey Results
Table 4–1. Accident and Exposure Statistics
Table 5–1. Summary of Idaho Statewide Winter Maintenance Material Consumption
Table 7–1. Interviews by Fleet Size
Table 8–1. Hypotheses Addressed by the Evaluation
List of Figures
Figure 1–1. Road Report Homepage (pre-RWIDS)
Figure 1–2. Road Report Homepage (post-RWIDS)
Figure 3–1. Public Monthly Road Report Website Usage
Figure 3–2. Post-Deployment Public User Sessions by Content Viewed
Figure 3–3. Public RWIDS Information Viewing by Data Type
Figure 3–4. TD Maintenance Staff RWIDS Sessions by Month
Figure 3–5. TD Maintenance Staff RWIDS Information Viewing by Data Types
Figure 3–6. Traditional Road Report Data Accessed by ITD Users
Figure 4–1. Statewide Winter Weather-Related Accident Rates
Figure 5–1. Trends of Idaho Statewide Winter Maintenance Material Consumption
Figure 5–2. District 1 Maintenance Resource Consumption Trends
Figure 5–3. District 2 Maintenance Resource Consumption Trends
Figure 5–4. District 3 Maintenance Resource Consumption Trends
Figure 5–5. District 4 Maintenance Resource Consumption Trends
Figure 5–6. District 5 Maintenance Resource Consumption Trends
Figure 5–7. District 6 Maintenance Resource Consumption Trends
Figure 6–1. Web Survey Screen Explained
Figure 6–2 (Q1). Frequency of Site Use
Figure 6–3 (Q2). Length of Time Using the Site
Figure 6–4 (Q3). Frequency of Use in Different Seasons
Figure 6–5 (Q4). Frequency of Use by Purpose
Figure 6–7 (Q6.1). Web Features Used
Figure 6–8. (Q6.2). Usefulness of RWIDS Information
Figure 6–9 (Q6af1). RWIDS Features Used
Figure 6–10 (Q6af2). Usefulness of RWIDS Information
Figure 6–11 (Q7). Agreement with Site Attributes
Figure 6–12 (Q8). Other Travel Information Sources
Figure 6–13 (Q10). Location of Participants
Figure 6–14 (Q11). Age of Participants
Figure 7–1. CVO Use of RWIDS Data
AADT........................................................ Annual Average Daily Traffic CVO......................................................... Commercial Vehicle Operator DOT.......................................................... Department of Transportation ESS........................................................ Environmental Sensor Station FHWA................................................. Federal Highway Administration GIS....................................................... Geographic Information System IP...................................................................................... Internet Protocol IT......................................................................... Information Technology ITA................................................................ Idaho Trucking Association ITD..................................................... Idaho Transportation Department ITS...................................................... Intelligent Transportation System JPO.......................................................................... Joint Program Office MDSS..................................... Maintenance Decision Support System NCDC..................................................... National Climatic Data Center NOAA......................... National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration NWS................................................................ National Weather Service RWIDS.................................... Road-Weather Integrated Data System RWIS.............................................. Road-Weather Information System SQL............................................................. Structured Query Language TAZ......................................................... Transportation Analysis Zones URL............................................................. Universal Resource Locator USDOT........................... United States Department of Transportation VMT...................................................................... Vehicle Miles Traveled WAN........................................................................... Wide Area Network XML................................................................. Extensible Markup Language