01371216

Component

http://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs/167060.aspx

http://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/167060.aspx

Since the late 1990s there has been an effort to develop and deploy a system integrating maintenance and weather data for winter maintenance operation decision makers to conduct safe and effective maintenance strategies on the roadway. In 2002, a group of state departments of transportation (DOT) created the Pooled-Fund Study (PFS) maintenance decision support system (MDSS) to develop a system that could augment current winter operation techniques and provide decision makers with a one-stop shop for road weather information. The primary objective was the integration of road, weather, maintenance actions, and traffic information to generate the most cost-effective maintenance recommendations for snow and ice control. The PFS MDSS solution was developed as a cooperative research program and has evolved into an operational decision support tool for the seventeen states that have participated in the program. As part of the ongoing evaluation of the program the DOT participants in this study have asked “Are DOT personnel who make the final maintenance treatment decisions using the recommendations; and, if not, why not?” An evaluation tool was developed to capture whether maintenance personnel accepted or rejected the MDSS recommendations during routine operations and, if they rejected the MDSS recommendations, why the MDSS recommendation was declined. This paper discusses how the evaluation tool was developed and the results from the evaluation. It addresses the process developed to assess how, when, and what recommendations would be evaluated and who would participate in the evaluation. Case studies were done on the road weather conditions concurrent with and prior to the evaluated recommendations to provide greater insight into the DOT selection regarding whether to use or not use the recommendation. The paper discusses the findings of these case studies and the complexities involved in assessing whether to honor an MDSS recommendation or use alternative maintenance actions.

01371195

WM-WSTW12-115

English

pp 374-388

2012-4

Transportation Research Circular

International Conference on Winter Maintenance and Surface Transportation Weather

Web

Figures; Maps; References; Tables

Case studies; Decision making; Decision support systems; Evaluation and assessment; Maintenance personnel; Snow and ice control; State departments of transportation; Weather conditions; Winter maintenance

Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS)

Data and Information Technology; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; I62: Winter Maintenance

TRIS, TRB

May 18 2012 10:38AM