V. Goal 3: Promote Technology Transfer of Effective Road Weather Scientific and Technological Advances

The RWMP has involved the transportation and meteorological communities using a combination of training, outreach, peer exchanges, conferences and collaborative research with universities, private entities, and state and local agencies to foster an engaged and active stakeholder group supporting road weather research and development. There are four measures under Goal 3, two of which are supported by three indicators each. Goal 3 addresses the RWMP’s marketing, outreach and efforts to engage state agencies in the RWMP’s programs and technologies.

The four measures under Goal 3 seek to quantify the extent to which the RWMP has been able to engage a wide range of stakeholders and potential users of road weather technologies, communicate the benefits, promote usage, and successfully transfer operational tools and systems to states and agencies across the country. State DOTs have indicated the value they attach to these activities through their participation in outreach activities sponsored by the RWMP and by actively seeking weather-related information and adopting new weather technologies to support their core operations. These state DOTs traditionally interpreted their jobs in terms of construction, operation and management of transportation infrastructure. Now they are increasingly supportive of the underlying tenet of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) that seeks to encourage a focus on enhancing the safety, efficiency, and productivity of existing systems. In this context, the RWMP is working to expand the vision of transportation system operators to more proactively integrate road weather into their daily activities consistent with the ITS philosophy.

Although indicated as the third goal of the RWM program, this goal reflects the first step in the process of raising awareness of the benefits of adopting RWM technologies and systems. Effective outreach and technology transfer enables agencies to address the significant effects of weather and road conditions affected by weather on the safety and satisfaction of the traveling public. The RWMP has taken steps in this direction to provide training and direction, and achieved measurable progress in terms of agency awareness, involvement, and adoption of such systems as the Clarus Initiative and MDSS. Much more progress along these lines can be expected in the future as these systems mature.

The four measures under this goal address direct effects of the RWMP in bringing together the transportation community towards increased awareness and use of road weather information and products. The primary source for tracking the data to quantify the four measures is the RWMP itself. Records of stakeholder involvement and participation at meetings, webinars, training courses and other outreach forums serve as primary sources of data for this measure.

Measure 3.1.  Number of agencies/individuals visited or contacted through technology transfer, training and outreach efforts.

Measure 3.1 examines how many state agencies, particularly state DOTs and the key individuals working in those DOTs, have been engaged in any of the RWMP’s technology transfer, training or outreach activities. The RWMP has sponsored meetings, workshops, conferences and prepared materials related to several of their core projects, including the Clarus Initiative and MDSS. In addition, they have hosted, sponsored and promoted a variety of training programs in support of these two projects and a number of their other projects and activities. There are three indicators that seek to measure progress in these areas, and specifically provide evidence in support of this measure, as they contribute to achievement of Goal 3.

1. Number of transportation agencies participating in Clarus initiative activities.
2. Number of transportation agencies participating in MDSS stakeholder meetings.
3. Number of participants in RWMP hosted, sponsored or promoted training.

Involvement in the Clarus Initiative has increased significantly between 2004 and 2008, with participation in the annual stakeholder meetings having increased threefold over this period (Figure 14). During the period May to July, 2009, 30 state agency representatives were contacted by telephone and interviewed in order to collect additional data on the extent of awareness, acceptance and use of RWMP products and involvement in RWMP-promoted activities. The results show extensive involvement in Clarus Initiative activities, with 22 of 30 respondents (73%) saying they or their agency has been involved with that program (Figure 15).

Figure 14. Participation in Clarus Stakeholder Meetings: 2004 – 2008

Since the year 2000, 41 state DOTs have participated in one or more MDSS stakeholder meetings, and the level of participation in any one year has remained relatively stable over this period (Figure 16). Results from the agency interviews indicate 17 of 30 agencies (57%) are actively involved with the MDSS program (Figure 15), and 13 (43%) said they are involved in both the Clarus Initiative (including providing data to the Clarus System) and MDSS programs. Of those respondents reporting no involvement in either of these two programs, several indicated they were considering future involvement in either the Clarus Initiative or MDSS. The response patterns suggest there are greater awareness, engagement and acceptance in the Clarus Initiative and MDSS programs than in the other RWMP projects. While it is still early in the deployment of each of these programs, as noted in Measure 2.1, a high percent of the respondents (88%) reported deriving either “substantial benefits” (38%) or “moderate benefits” (50%) from their involvement in Clarus and MDSS. In their supporting comments, some respondents noted they specifically appreciate having access to ESS data from neighboring states, quality controlled data, and environmental benefits along with financial benefits.

Figure 15. Agency Involvement in the RWMP’s R&D Projects

While there is agency involvement in the WRTM activities, none of the agency respondents interviewed was aware that their agency was involved. Although the TMC weather integration project is currently focused on only selected TMCs across the country, 23% of the interviewees said their agency was involved. This was asked as a separate question in the interviews, even though the TMC integration project is a part of the larger WRTM program.

Figure 16. Participation in MDSS Stakeholder Meetings: 2000 – 2008

The third indicator covers participation in RWMP-sponsored or promoted training. Four courses have been presented on “Principles and Fundamentals for Road Weather Management” that have drawn a total of 113 participants to four on-site locations (Table 10). Two additional blended courses on this topic drew 38 participants in 2008. An Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) course on the same subject in 2008 had 40 participants. Also, the RWMP has sponsored the “MDSS Road Show” that has been conducted 28 times between 2006 and 2008 across the country. Through the Clarus Initiative and MDSS meetings and sponsored training activities, the RWMP has reached a wide audience of key stakeholders.

Further support for progress on Measure 3.1 is provided by the transportation agency interviews, in which 22 out of 28 (79%) said they or a member of their agency had visited the FHWA RWMP web site. Of those who visited the web site, 12 said they downloaded either research reports, guidance documents, or other tools and information, and 10 said they either didn’t download anything or they didn’t know or weren’t sure whether they or others had downloaded anything from that site. In addition, 20 of 28 respondents (71%) said they have either attended or presented in the FHWA National Transportation Operations Coalition (NTOC) webcasts, which is a forum that the RWMP uses to communicate with its national constituency. Figure 17 shows the number and percent of respondents who visited the web site and reported they downloaded one or more documents from the RWMP web site, or did not or were not sure. Many said they downloaded more than one of these items.

The use of road weather information and decision support systems is well supported by both available program participation data and by the interviews with the state agencies that the RWMP has sought to support and engage. What is more difficult to capture with available data is a clear understanding of how these agencies are using this information and these support systems in their day-to-day decision making. Thus, the extensiveness of use throughout a DOT’s jurisdiction or the role of the information in supporting advisory, control and treatment decisions is more complex and generally beyond the reach of the available data. The RWMP can consider establishing state DOT record keeping guidelines for routinely tracking a simplified set of data items to help fill the current gaps in our ability to fully implement Measure 3.1. Periodic interviews with a sample of state agency representatives, similar to the interviews conducted for this study but with a refined and expanded set of questions, could be implemented annually to help understand the nuances associated with the RWMP’s efforts to increase the use of road weather information and technologies.

Figure 17. Products Downloaded by Agencies from the RWMP Website

Measure 3.2.  Rate of adoption of RWM technologies (e.g., decision-support systems) by agencies that participated in workshop or training activities.

Measure 3.2 addresses the extent to which agencies that have participated in workshops or training have adopted RWMP technologies. Unfortunately, no data have been collected to track participants in these activities and find out whether their agencies have adopted RWMP technologies, either as a result of their participation in those activities, or otherwise related to their participation. Data have already been presented under Goal 1 that show the level of agency adoption of such key technologies as the Clarus system and MDSS. Data are also available on the number of agencies that are contributing their ESS data to the Clarus system. The RWMP sponsors stakeholder workshops for both the Clarus Initiative and MDSS programs, and attendees at those events represent agencies that have adopted the technologies, as well as other agencies that are considering adoption in the future and are seeking more information. While there is apparently a strong relationship between involvement in these technology programs and participation in workshops and training sponsored by the RWMP, the data are not yet available to measure this relationship. In order to better understand the cause and effect relationship between participation in workshops and training, and adoption of these RWMP technologies, the RWMP will need to collect data in the future from participants in these events and ask them whether their agencies have adopted the technologies and why they decided to do so.

In 2006 there were three agencies that contributed ESS data to the Clarus system, and by 2008, 33 agencies had contributed data from 1,700 ESS (Figure 18). Agencies include both state and local agencies. As has been noted already, the Clarus Initiative is just now getting off the ground, and more agencies are expected to contribute significantly more data to theClarus system in the future. The second indicator of RWMP technology adoption is the extent of public and private sector use of quality-checked Clarus system data (Table 11). This indicator will become more useful as the Clarus system evolves, but in the early phases of this initiative, at least five private sector entities are active users of Clarus system data. States are starting to acquire Clarus system data, and applications are being developed as part of Phase III of the Clarus Initiative regional demonstrations that are expected to be deployed in about 8 states by 2010. The third indicator for Measure 3.2 is the number of states adopting MDSS technologies and methods. This indicator also supports Goal 1, Measure 1, and the data were reported under the Goal 1 discussion.

Figure 18. Agency Participation in Clarus System: December 31, 2008

Measure 3.3.  Number of RWM technology development, testing and deployment activities initiated through public or private sector based on identified operational needs.

Measure 3 addresses the number of RWMP development, testing and deployment activities of both the public and private sectors. Between 2001 and 2008 approximately 90 projects have been initiated through Federal, state and university sponsorship. These include 46 projects conducted with the states, 40 university projects, and 4 Federal projects. Attention at the Federal level channeled through the RWMP has helped move these projects forward. The role of the RWMP has primarily been a collaborative one, and the agencies and universities engage in and leading these activities are chiefly responsible for the successes produced by these projects.

Measure 3.4.  Number of road weather technologies developed through public-private and/or public-public partnerships reaching operational deployment.

Measure 4 addresses the number of road weather technologies developed through partnerships that have reached operational deployment. Table 12 lists eight such technologies that are in various stages of operations across the country.

Each of the technologies shown in Table 12 is being used by states and agencies, and each has been supported in some manner by the RWMP which has tended for the most part to play a collaborative or consultative role in partnership with each of these entities, including in a number of these providing financial support for technology development.