One of the biggest challenges faced by winter maintenance decision makers is to properly identify, monitor, and respond to weather conditions that lead to poor road conditions. A major objective of the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) program is to improve the efficiency and capacity of the surface transportation system. Because weather is a major factor in transportation efficiency, its impact on surface transportation must be understood and addressed. In addition, investments must be made to improve road weather diagnoses and forecasts, the dissemination of weather information to winter road maintenance practitioners and the traveling public. State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) use a variety of systems and consultants in an attempt to become knowledgeable about the current and forecasted weather conditions. The ability to obtain accurate, high resolution, weather forecast information along road segments is difficult and time consuming. DOT personnel are often required to consult numerous weather sources and, in many cases, interpret weather data in an attempt to determine the impact of the weather on their local maintenance operation. This inefficient process can often result in frustration, misinterpretation of environmental conditions, and poor decisions. In fiscal year 2000, the US Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Office of Transportation Operations (HOTO) Road Maintenance Management Program began an initiative to gather surface transportation weather decision support requirements from State DOT personnel. In addition, the Office of Federal Coordinator for Meteorology (OFCM) together with the FHWA, co-sponsored symposiums on Weather Information for Surface Transportation (WIST). The primary objective of these activities was to increase the awareness of the impact of weather on surface transportation and to solicit feedback from the surface transportation community on potential solutions. Utilizing information obtained from the above-mentioned outreach activities, the FHWA began a project in fiscal year 2001 to develop a prototype Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) tailored for winter road maintenance decision makers. This paper discusses the MDSS and its development.
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