7 Conclusions and Recommendations
The MDSS deployed by MaineDOT in the winter of 2006-2007 offered the DOT and the Scarborough road maintenance crew a useful winter storm planning tool. In its current configuration, it is primarily a weather forecasting tool. The needs of state DOT’s varies widely, and many that have not yet decided to deploy an MDSS may want to move is this direction in a more step-wise fashion without committing to a more costly, fully evolved MDSS system initially. There is benefit in offering a relatively inexpensive tool focused on helping maintenance operators better forecast the timing and type of precipitation at the beginning of a storm event. The MDSS offered a tool that helped MaineDOT integrate a variety of critical weather data into a useful GIS platform. These capabilities alone meet the most frequently expressed needs of DOTs that want a tool that can help them better time their pre-treatment decisions and determine the correct materials for the conditions they are going to face at the front end of a storm. They want to know start time, precipitation type, anticipated amount of precipitation, and duration. MaineDOT acknowledged that even when they had access to a meteorologist on contract to provide storm forecasts, they had a hard time predicting these key attributes of a storm. An MDSS that could improve their ability to only do that would be very valuable, and may be all that many state DOTs want or need.
MaineDOT found their experience overall with the MDSS to be a beneficial one. However, it was also apparent from the event reconstruction and interviews with the crews that the influence of this tool on their maintenance and treatment decisions could have been greater had the crews perceived a greater degree of accuracy, reliability and consistency in the forecasts and treatment recommendations provided. FHWA should encourage state DOTs to customize the treatment recommendations imbedded in the MDSS to fit their climatic, geographic, and operational needs. They also should encourage MDSS vendors to work closely with state DOTs, understand the range of different needs among the states, refine their MDSS based on the experiences of state DOTs, and make improvements where they offer clear value to users.
The FHWA is seeking to extend the benefits of the winter MDSS as a year round tool that can assist state DOTs through enhanced weather awareness with such activities as road striping, herbicide spraying, and other non-winter road maintenance activities. A focused, relatively non-complex and inexpensive MDSS tool of the type used by MaineDOT this past winter season may offer a suitable platform upon which to develop these kinds of decision support tools for more extended uses.
The transportation community, including federal and state agencies, should continue to support the development of several different MDSS systems that offer state DOTs a choice of capabilities, functionality, and cost. This kind of environment helps encourage innovation and attention to meeting a range of different needs in different parts of the country. The MDSS deployed by MaineDOT raised awareness throughout the state of the value and potential of a tool that could supplement their existing weather forecasting and management tools with a set of capabilities they didn’t have previously. Transportation agencies also can support training to capitalize on this growing awareness and encourage wider use of MDSS tools to help improve overall transportation safety, mobility, and productivity.