00626890

Component

http://onlinepubs.trb.org...trr/1992/1352/1352-010.pdf

https://scholar.google.co...elly&publication_year=1992

In 1988, the Strategic Highway Research Program initiated a project to look at the potential effectiveness of road weather information system technologies for improving and reducing costs of highway snow and ice control. These technologies include pavement and meteorological sensors, pavement and weather condition forecasts, roadway thermography, and the communications, both human and electronic, required for effective dissemination of the information. The investigation required the performance of a benefit-cost analysis of road technologies. The benefit-cost assessment is complex because it has to take into account variations in the distribution of weather events and road conditions, as well as snow and ice control practices, in different regions of the country. Described in this paper is the statistical model used to perform the benefit-cost assessment, to include the one-, two-, and three-dimensional matrices that form the basis for computing costs. Benefits are the reductions in snow and ice control costs resulting from the use of the weather information technologies. Finally, presented in the paper are the results obtained from running the model. Model results show that the use of weather technologies can be cost-effective when decisions become proactive with the use of weather information. The model shows that detailed forecasts of road conditions provide the greatest benefit-cost ratio; however, the combination of forecasts, sensors, and road thermography synergistically provides improved level of service for snow and ice control, a significant reduction in decision errors, as well as a benefit-cost ratio greater than one.

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1352, Maintenance Management, Traffic Safety, and Snow Removal. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved

01405028

English

p. 75-82

1992

Transportation Research Record

0309052165

Figures (6) ; References (1) ; Tables (1)

Benefit cost analysis; Communications; Cost control; Cost effectiveness; Decision making; Forecasting; Information dissemination; Information systems; Mathematical models; Measures of effectiveness; Sensors; Snow and ice control; Thermographs; Weather

Strategic Highway Research Program

Cost reduction; Effectiveness

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

TRIS, TRB

Feb 18 1993 12:00AM

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