1.0 Introduction and Background

1.1 Introduction

This report presents the results of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) evaluation of the Idaho Transportation Department’s (ITD) integration of their Road-Weather Information System (RWIS). This introduction provides an overview of the RWIS integration project and the approach to the evaluation. The remainder of the report presents the evaluation results and conclusions.

The ITD RWIS project received approximately $396,400 in funding through the FHWA Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Integration Program. The ITD reports that the total cost of the project was approximately $300,000. The ITD RWIS project was selected for a national evaluation from the population of ITS Integration Program projects earmarked for the Fiscal Year 2000. The selection was based on the findings of a site visit conducted in November 2002 at which time the evaluation team met with the ITD RWIS project manager and several other project participants. It was concluded that the project held significant potential to generate lessons learned and other findings that would be useful to other RWIS operators and those planning for such systems.

In particular, this project offered an opportunity to study the potential benefits and impacts on public travel and state highway maintenance practice associated with the integration of ITD RWIS data with non-transportation weather data, and the improved information access. The findings of this evaluation could provide useful insights to USDOT’s ongoing Clarus initiative which intends to “demonstrate an integrated road weather observation network and data management system to reduce the effect of adverse weather on all road users and operators.” Clarus—the Nationwide Surface Transportation Weather Observing and Forecasting System—aims to leverage state investments in Environmental Sensor Stations (ESS) to minimize weather impacts on safety, mobility and productivity.

The evaluation of the ITD RWIS integration project employed a before-and-after study approach. The before (pre-deployment) data was collected and analyzed in 2001 and 2002. The RWIS project became operational in November 2002. Collection of after (post-deployment) data focused on the second winter season of operation from October 2003 through May 2004. The post-deployment evaluation was delayed one year in order to allow ITD maintenance personnel to be trained and to gain experiences with the integrated system.

1.2 Problem Statement

The ITD RWIS project was intended to address four problems. The problems and associated high-level project objectives are as follows:

Lack of a Consolidated, Internet-Accessible ITD RWIS User Interface – Data from two different brands of ITD RWIS were accessed separately via two different proprietary user interfaces. Data from the two different systems were in different formats. Many ITD field maintenance sheds did not have convenient access to the data (dial-up connections were used). This project established a single user interface and data format for all ITD RWIS data and made it available to maintenance personnel with Internet access. The overall objective related to this problem was to improve the accessibility of ITD RWIS data for ITD maintenance personnel. A related secondary objective was, by improving accessibility to the RWIS and providing training to maintenance personnel, to promote their utilization of RWIS in winter maintenance decision-making.
Inability to Integrate Various Brands of Environmental Sensor Stations into a Single RWIS – ITD operated two separate RWIS, one for each brand of ESS. (ESS, which are also known as weather stations and RWIS stations, are the field components of an RWIS.) It was not possible to integrate information from the different brands of ESS and therefore ITD felt confined to one of the two existing ESS brands when expanding coverage. This project defined and established a common data platform that allows ESS from different vendors, who develop a compliant interface, to be integrated. The overall objective related to this problem was to create a common data platform to facilitate integration of additional ITD RWIS ESS of different brands, thereby allowing ITD to make cost-effective selections.
Lack of Public Access to RWIS Information – Public information on weather and road conditions was limited to the ITD “Road Report” phone line and website (http://164.165.237.41/apps/roadreport/), which did not include RWIS information. This project makes RWIS information available to the public through the addition of a Road-Weather Integrated Data System (RWIDS) webpage to the Road Report website. The overall objective related to this problem was to share RWIS and other weather information with the public via the Internet.
Inadequate ESS Coverage – ITD operated about 34 RWIS sensors statewide and there were many critical gaps in coverage. This project made available, in a common format, data from approximately 120 additional ESS of various types operated by other organizations within and adjacent to Idaho. Access to these other stations was made possible through ITD’s participation in the MesoWest weather information sharing consortium coordinated by the University of Utah. MesoWest is a cooperative project to share access to weather data collected by a large number of public and private organizations throughout the western United States, including state departments of transportation; various Federal agencies including the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and National Weather Service; and universities and private companies. The overall project objective related to this problem was to cost-effectively fill in some of the many gaps in statewide RWIS coverage.

1.3 The Road Report Website

The impact of the RWIS project on public information dissemination strategies of the ITD focused on the Road Report system. The ITD has operated the Road Report traveler information system for approximately eight years. The system includes both an Internet website and telephone information system. The only significant change to the Road Report phone line or website over the last several years was the addition of the RWIDS webpage in 2002 as part of the RWIS integration project. The “traditional” Road Report website information, that is, the information that has traditionally been provided and which is still provided, consists of information on construction, detours, road closures, and roadway surface and weather information (e.g., “surface: icy spots”; “weather: cloudy”).

The pavement condition and weather information on the Road Report website is based on field reports from ITD maintenance foremen. During the winter months, at four scheduled times each day, the Idaho State Communications Department contacts each ITD foreman and collects this information. During severe weather, the foremen can phone in updates at any time. The State Communications Department then relays this information to the ITD Public Information Office, which inputs the information into the Road Report website and records the telephone version of the information.

Figure 1-1 presents the Road Report homepage, circa late 2002, just prior to the addition of the RWIDS webpage. The left portion of Figure 1-2 shows an example of the type of roadway information available on the website. The upper table shows the information organized by geographic area. The lower table shows the information organized by specific roadway, in this case I-84. The links on the right side of the homepage consist of a link to the National Weather Service website and various types of static information, including general information on ITD winter maintenance practices (“ITD Winter Maintenance”) and various ITD transportation maps and data (“Highway Data Quest”).

Figure 1-1. Computer screen capture. This figure shows the home page of Idaho Transportation Department’s Road Report website before the earmark deployment. An inset shows the example screen of the layout of the Road Report function, which provides road and weather conditions as well as construction information along a selected segment of the highway.

Figure 1–1. Road Report Homepage (pre-RWIDS)

The impact of the ITD RWIS Integration project was limited to the addition of a new link on the Road Report website homepage. That link, “Weather/Pavement Conditions and Webcams” (the RWIDS webpage) is shown in Figure 1-2, which presents the Road Report homepage circa 2004.

Figure 1–2. Road Report Homepage (post-RWIDS)

The RWIDS webpage that was created through the ITD RWIS Integration project is shown in Figure 1-3. The homepage includes a statewide map showing current weather conditions (temperatures and cloud conditions). The information displayed on the map can be changed by the user to show either wind speed and direction (in arrows) or barometric pressure at locations throughout the state.

Figure 1–3. RWIDS Webpage

In addition to the weather map on the homepage, the RWIDS webpage contains a wide range of weather and road-weather information in the following major categories (examples of these data are shown in Appendix A):

Weather and Pavement Data – Current weather from individual reporting stations, including the approximately 30 ITD ESS and the many ESS operated by other organizations; National Weather Service weather forecasts for individual locations; and pavement data from individual ITD pavement sensors.
National Weather Service Alerts – Watches and warnings (shown as shaded areas on a map) and avalanche alerts. Additional information can be obtained for each avalanche alert by clicking on an individual alert icon.
Weather Images – Satellite, Doppler radar, composite radar, Isobars, jet stream, and Pacific loop satellite images linked from other organization’s websites, including the National Weather Service. See Appendix A for example images.
Roadway Images – Snap shots from any of 40 cameras located throughout Idaho and surrounding states, consisting of some ITD traffic cameras and ESS cameras, as well as cameras operated by other organizations.
Road Report – A link back to the Road Report homepage and a map graphically displaying road closures, based on information from the “traditional” (non-RWIDS) Road Report.

All of the above information is available to general public users of the Road Report website. ITD maintenance users can view this information as well using the same webpage as the public. However, there is an optional ITD employee user log-in feature on the Road Report homepage (“RWIDS employee access”, in the lower right portion of Figure 1-2). Using a password, ITD employees can log on to the RWIDS webpage and gain access to a slightly enhanced version of the webpage. The enhanced version includes two special features not available to the public: alerts and printing functions.

The alerts feature allows ITD users to set one or more alerts keyed to one or more variables for various ESS. When conditions reach the level specified in the alert, an e-mail notification is automatically sent to the user. For example, an alert could be set that provides an e-mail notification when temperatures drop below freezing and when wind speeds exceed 30 miles per hour at the Boise Municipal ESS. The printing function allows users to graph and print any of a variety of data from the RWIDS webpage for up to a 24-hour period.

1.4 Evaluation Approach

The evaluation approach was developed to assess the impacts associated with the major project objectives referenced in the Problem Statement (Section 1.2) and to gather lessons learned and other insights useful to ITD and other RWIS implementers. Table 1-1 presents the evaluation hypotheses. The last chapter of this report summarizes evaluation findings for each hypothesis.

**Table 1–1.** Hypotheses Addressed by the Evaluation
Associated Problem (Section 1.2)	Project Objective	Hypothesized Project Impacts
1. Lack of a Consolidated, Internet-Accessible ITD RWIS User Interface.	Provide convenient access to consolidated RWIS data for ITD headquarters, district and foreman area staff, and for the consolidated state dispatch office.	ITD staff will consult the integrated RWIDS website and will view the resource positively.
	Increase the utilization of RWIS data in winter maintenance decision-making (e.g., where and when to deploy snow plows), especially by Foreman Area personnel, who are responsible for many real-time maintenance decisions.	ITD winter maintenance staff will integrate the use of RWIDS information from the website into their winter maintenance decision making.
		The effectiveness of ITD winter road maintenance activities will be improved, such as may ultimately manifest as reduced winter-weather related crashes.
		The productivity of ITD winter road maintenance activities will be improved, such as may manifest as reduced labor or materials cost for equivalent work performed or service provided.
2. Inability to Integrate Various Brands of Environmental Sensor Stations into a Single RWIS	Provide a cost-effective means to integrate future RWIS sensors, regardless of their brand, and to integrate other future ITS devices such as dynamic message signs and highway advisory radio.	Future integration of various brands of ESS, and other ITS devices, will be possible.
3. Lack of Public Access to RWIS Information	Provide the public convenient access to consolidated RWIS information in a form that will facilitate the use of information in making travel decisions.	Travelers (e.g., commuters, recreational travelers, and commercial vehicle operators) will consult the RWIDS webpage and will view the resource positively.
		Travelers will utilize the RWIDS webpage and will call the ITD less frequently for road-weather information.
		Use of the RWIS website will allow travelers to avoid or better prepare for driving during adverse road weather conditions.
4. Inadequate Environmental Sensor Station Coverage	Provide the ability to expand ITD RWIS coverage in a cost-effective manner through the integration of data from sensors operated by other organizations.	Expansion of ITD RWIS coverage in a cost-effective manner through the integration of data from sensors operated by other organizations.

The evaluation approach was developed to test each of the hypotheses identified in Table 1-1 and included the following major analyses:

Key Informant Interviews – Post-deployment key informant interviews constitute a primary source of information on lessons learned and evaluation of hypothesized impacts related to maintenance personnel utilization of the RWIS integration project. Interviews were conducted with several ITD headquarters personnel consisting of the RWIS project manager, the state maintenance engineer, the Public Information Officer, and the Road Report webmaster. Interviews were also conducted with 10 maintenance foremen and 4 lead workers, representing 13 of the 45 ITD foreman areas and 3 of the 6 ITD Districts.
Web Usage Data Analysis – This analysis focused on project objectives related to providing the public and ITD maintenance personnel with a convenient source of a wide range of road-weather information. Public and ITD maintenance personnel usage of the enhanced Road Report website, including the RWIDS webpage, was analyzed using website system data (server log files). The analysis examined the relative usage levels of various types of Road Report information as well as the relationship between usage of “traditional” Road Report information and the new RWIDS data. The analysis of public Road Report web usage included before-and-after comparisons. The analysis of ITD maintenance usage focused only on the RWIDS webpage and considered only the post-deployment period (the RWIDS webpage did not exist prior to this project).
Accident Data Analysis – The accident data analysis focused on the assessment of RWIDS impacts on accident risk by comparing the before-and-after winter weather-related accident data. The hypothesized safety benefits are expected from two sources. First, the “better” winter maintenance practice of ITD resulting from the use of RWIDS is expected to provide safer roadways. Second, upon consulting with the RWIDS information, the general public would be more informed of the road-weather conditions and would make travel decisions that reduce the likelihood of accident occurrence.
Maintenance Resources Analysis – Like the accident data analysis, this analysis focused on hypothesized impacts stemming from project-related improvements in winter maintenance practices. This analysis intended to assess potential RWIDS impacts on winter maintenance resources by comparing the before-and-after maintenance resource consumption of labor and various key materials.
Public Web Survey – Identical RWIDS information was provided to ITD maintenance staff as well as the general public through the ITD Road Report website. An on-line web survey was conducted as part of this evaluation to understand the general public’s perception on the RWIDS as traveler information. The objectives of the survey were to better understand who the users were of the new RWIDS information as well as the traditional road condition reports. The survey was designed to investigate what kinds of trips they were planning with the information they derived from the site, the RWIDS features they used and how useful they found these features to be for their trip planning, and suggestions they might have for enhancing the overall value of the site.
Commercial Vehicle Operator Interviews – Like the public web survey and the public portion of the usage analysis, this analysis focused on hypothesized impacts related to travelers’ utilization and satisfaction with the enhanced Road Report website. In this case, the focus was a subset of the traveler information market: commercial vehicle operators. Interviews were conducted with 22 representatives of commercial trucking companies active in Idaho. The interviews examined general traveler information strategies as well as awareness, use, and satisfaction with the Road Report website, including the RWIDS webpage.

Executive Summary | Table of Contents | 2.0 Key Informant Interviews