2.0 Identifying Candidate TMCs for Weather Information Integration

This section describes the process to select TMCs for participation, the TMCs selected, and the specific plans developed for each TMC to conduct the self-evaluation. The selection and planning processes were carried out to:

Identify criteria by which TMC’s would be evaluated and selected for project participation
Identify candidate TMC’s and recommend a limited number to participate
Define a project deployment plan for following up with each TMC selected

The deployment plan was completed in April 2009 as an internal project document. It contained a list of all TMCs contacted and their levels of interest in weather information integration.

Five TMC candidates were selected because it was felt they would significantly benefit from enhancing weather information integration in their operations and were interested and motivated to participate. These candidate TMCs were grouped into two tiers and received different levels of assistance from the consultant team to work through the Guide and develop a weather integration plan.

The five selected TMCs are a good representation of TMCs across the country with varied geographic locations, types of operations, and weather conditions that impact their respective transportation systems. Also, the TMCs varied in their current levels of weather integration and therefore offered good opportunities to identify and evaluate different integration strategies.

2.1 TMC Site Selection Process

The goal of the selection process was to identify TMCs that the consultant team could support to 1) conduct a self-evaluation that is responsive to their needs and results in weather integration strategies suitable for deployment, and 2) prepare a weather integration plan.

2.1.1 Selection Criteria

Selecting the most appropriate TMCs was essential to the success of the project. The consultant team established and used the following criteria to screen a long list of potential TMCs and select those that would receive assistance to work through the Guide and develop an integration plan.

Region – a balanced representation of TMCs across the country
Operations – variety of operational types with at least one focused on arterial management
Weather impacting transportation system – variety of weather types
Level of weather impacts on transportation system – significant weather impacts
Current level of availability and use of weather information in operations – range from low to high to reflect the circumstances of TMCs across the country
Interest in integrating weather information into TMC operations – strong interest in enhancing their level of weather integration
Potential to be national case study example of weather information integration – high potential to serve as a national example
Extent of institutional and/or technological barriers – indication of low barriers to weather integration
Willingness to participate in the project – Strong willingness to participate

It was important that a TMC indicated a strong interest in participating in the process; however, the focus was on identifying TMCs that could demonstrate the benefits of integration and were diverse in the types of weather integration they sought and the weather and operational characteristics of their TMC location in order to enhance the potential marketing insights and benefits. Additionally, diverse types of transportation operations were also important, with the goal of including at least one TMC that managed an arterial network. Table 1 summarizes the selection criteria and defines the anticipated variation in each of the criteria and desired outcome for each of the TMCs. Recognizing that it would be difficult to find TMCs that are ideal with respect to every criterion, the selection process sought to identify TMCs that most closely met the project goals.

Table 1. TMC Weather Integration Assessment, Plan Development and Implementation Selection Criteria
A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I
Region	Operations	Weather impacting transportation system	Level of weather impacts on transportation system	Current level of availability and use of Wx information in operations	Interest in integrating Wx information into TMC Operations	Potential to be national case study example of weather information integration	Extent of institutional and/or technological barriers	Willingness to participate in the project
Anticipated variation in each of the criteria
West, North, South, East, Northwest, Southwest, Northeast, Southeast, North central, South central.	Regional or statewide. Freeway, arterial or both. Urban or rural	Snow, ice, freezing rain, heavy rain, flooding, hurricanes, blowing dust/sand, blizzards.	High, Medium, or Low. Judgment of interviewer based on response to questions.	High, Medium, or Low. Judgment of interviewer based on response to questions derived from the integration matrix.	Strong, mild, or no interest. Types of improvements that they are interested in and expected benefits.	High, Medium, or Low. Judgment of interviewer based on response to questions.	High, Medium, or Low. Judgment of interviewer based on response to questions.	Willing or not willing.
Desired outcome of TMC selection process
Regional balance	Variety of operational types. At least one focused on managing arterials	Variety of weather types	Significant (high) weather impacts	Mix of low to high use levels for Wx information	Strong interest in enhancing Wx integration; variation in desired types of Wx integration	High potential to serve as national example	Low barriers to Wx integration	Strong willingness to participate in self-assessment and plan development.

2.1.2 Identifying Candidate TMCs

The process to identify candidate TMCs began with the development of a list of potential candidates, considering the selection criteria described above and the following components:

Review of previous TMC lists from the earlier phases of the weather integration studies. Some TMCs were eliminated and others were carried forward based on how well they met the criteria.
Input from FHWA and the consultant team regarding their experience and knowledge of TMCs and their operations.
Interest expressed by TMC Pooled Fund members during a presentation to this group in Nashville, TN on July 15, 2008. Some members who represent member states said they were interested in further discussions and were subsequently contacted. They suggested several TMCs in their states that were added to the list.
Response to the 2007 Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Infrastructure TMC Survey⁵. Several appeared to be good candidates and were added to the list.

This resulted in a list of thirty-nine potential TMCs. Of the original thirty-nine, the consultant team discussed the potential project participation with personnel from twenty-three TMCs. Once enough TMCs were identified, the consultant team stopped contacting TMCs.

The consultant team contacted the TMCs by phone to learn more about their operations and interest level, asking a set of questions based on each of the selection criteria to determine their suitability for participation. The results of these discussions and recommendations of TMCs to work through the self-evaluation and integration planning processes are presented in the next section.

2.1.3 Selection of the Most Promising TMCs

Based on the responses during the phone interviews, the TMCs were categorized as follows:

Four TMCs indicated that they did not require the use of weather information and therefore were not interested in participating. This may have been because weather did not play a significant role in traffic management challenges faced by the TMC or that weather information was handled by another organization (such as maintenance) and the TMC did not perceive a need for the information.
Five TMCs indicated that their operations did require the use of weather information, but they felt they had what they needed and were not planning to enhance their weather integration capabilities.
Five TMCs expressed an interest in enhancing their current level of weather integration, but felt they could not devote the time and resources required to participate in the project at this time.
Four TMCs were interested in participating, but after discussing their operations with the consultant team it was apparent that they did not sufficiently meet the selection criteria.
Five TMCs expressed a high level of interest in enhancing their level of weather integration in their operations. Based on the interviews, the consultant team determined they best fit the selection criteria.

These five TMCs, along with their strong interest, exhibited the right conditions to benefit from enhanced weather integration. Additional phone conversations were conducted with these TMCs to learn more about the possibilities of their involvement and to ensure their full commitment to the self-evaluation process and development of an integration plan centered around their selected weather integration strategies (from the Guide).

This project was scoped to originally identify and work with three TMCs (Tier 1). In order to be responsive to the interests of the remaining qualified TMCs, the consultant team, in consultation with FHWA, recommended adding a second group (Tier 2) of TMCs to the project. These two tiers are defined as follows:

Tier 1: Three TMC will receive assistance from the consultant team as defined by the original project scope, including 3-4 visits to their location to work through the self-evaluation and develop an Integration Plan.
Tier 2: Up to three additional TMCs will be provided a copy of the Guide and general instructions to get started with limited assistance from the consultant team in the way of phone conversations to answer questions. No on-site visits will be planned.

The Tier 2 concept was new to the project, and offered an opportunity to determine whether TMCs can be expected to seek out the Guide on-line and successfully carry out a self-evaluation and planning process essentially on their own and without assistance. These Tier 2 TMCs would also serve as alternates to the Tier 1 group should an event arise that would prevent one of them from completing the project, and the opportunity to expose more TMCs to the Guide and obtain further input regarding its usefulness.

Table 2 identifies the five TMCs selected for project participation and their responses to each of the selection criteria.

Table 2. Five Selected TMCs and their Responses to the Selection Criteria
TMC	Region	Type of operation	Weather impacting transportation system	Level of weather impacts on transportation system	Current Level of availability and use of Weather information on operations	Interest in integrating weather information into TMC operations	Potential to be national case study example of weather information integration	Extent of institutional and/or technological barriers	Willingness to participate in the project	Comments
TMCs RECOMMENDED FOR TIER 1 PROCESS
Colorado Springs, CO	West Central	Regional, mostly urban, freeway/ arterials	Snow, ice, heavy rain, flooding, and fog	Medium/High	Low	Strong – want to know about what’s possible. Potential for signal system application	High – regional freeway and arterial managemen;. Signal control functions with Wx. Info. Winter Wx.	Low	Willing	Potential to demonstrate proactive control of arterial signals and modification of timing patterns during winter storm events. Also, a relatively small TMC that can serve as a good example for many smaller systems around the country
Kansas City, KS	Central	Multi-state, urban, freeway	Rain, flooding, tornadoes, high winds, some snow	High	Medium	Strong – need better prediction capabilities	High – integration of weather information across two states in one TMC. All freeway, mostly advisory functions.	Low	Willing	Potential to demonstrate weather integration in TMC operations of an extensive Interstate system across a large metropolitan area involving a two-state coalition.
Louisiana – 3 regional TMCs in Shreveport, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans; and another statewide TMC located in Baton Rouge.	South	Regional and statewide, freeways	Heavy rain, flooding, hurricane, tornadoes	Medium to High	Low	Strong – Need better prediction capability and location specifics. Need better preparation details and timing.	High – Integration of weather information across four TMCs encompassing the entire state. Mostly advisory functions, but some control related to evacuations.	Low	Willing	Potential to demonstrate integration of weather information among four separate TMCs across the state of Louisiana. Also, potential to address unique weather impacts due to tornadoes and hurricanes that may be of interest to other southern states.
TMCs RECOMMENDED FOR TIER 2 PROCESS
Redding, CA	West	Large District, rural, freeway	Heavy rain, snow, fires, strong wind	High	Low	Strong – need for reliable forecasting	High – mountainous road conds with severe weather. Chain rqmts is primary control function.	Medium	Willing	Potential to demonstrate improved traveler information and safety warnings within a large rural region that experiences varied weather conditions.
Wyoming DOT	West	Statewide, rural, freeway	Snow, ice, strong winds, blowing snow	High	Medium	High –extremely rural, statewide center, severe winter weather	High – want to integrate weather info with new variable speed signs (control)	Low	Willing	Potential to demonstrate improved management of a statewide network of rural Interstates and state highways that experience extreme winter weather conditions, frequent road closures and strong winds.

The three TMCs recommended for Tier 1 involvement and a brief explanation of their site characteristics are as follows:

Colorado Springs Regional TMC – This TMC manages both the freeway system and arterial network for the regional area surrounding Colorado Springs, Colorado. This includes 562 signals. It experiences heavy winter snow and ice conditions, severe thunderstorms with heavy rains, dense fog, and potential for flooding. It currently exhibits a low level of weather integration and is very interested in enhancing its capabilities in this area. The TMC possesses the potential to explore weather integration strategies to better manage traffic flow on arterials during winter storm conditions with revised signal timing plans. This site offers an opportunity to show how smaller regional TMCs can benefit from enhanced weather integration strategies.
Kansas City Scout Regional TMC – This TMC manages 125 miles of Interstate highways in the Kansas City metropolitan area across a two-state region. The TMC is jointly managed by Missouri and Kansas and is staffed by representatives from both states, with a management structure that alleviates institutional barriers that may otherwise be present. The area experiences heavy rain, flooding, tornadoes, high winds, and snow. The TMC exhibited a medium level of weather integration and was very interested in enhancing its capabilities in this area. It represents a large metropolitan area with numerous Interstate highways that experience heavy congestion and increased traffic crashes during severe weather conditions.
Louisiana Regional and Statewide TMCs – The state of Louisiana has four TMCs – three regional TMCs in Shreveport, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans (operational in Sept 2009); and a statewide TMC located in Baton Rouge. They experience heavy rain, flooding, hurricanes, and tornadoes. Although their use of weather information was expanding and their evacuation preparations had improved significantly since hurricane Katrina, they were at a relatively low level of weather integration. They were very interested in enhancing their weather integration capabilities. They represent an entire state with multiple TMCs with the potential to integrate weather in each TMC as well as between the TMCs and at a statewide level.

The two additional TMCs recommended for Tier 2 involvement and a brief explanation of their conditions are as follows:

Redding, California Caltrans District 2 TMC – This Caltrans District-wide TMC located in Redding, California (north central) manages all the California state highways and Interstates in a large seven county area. The area experiences heavy rain, flooding, snow at the higher elevations, fires, and high winds. They exhibited a low level of weather integration and were very interested in enhancing their weather operations capabilities. They represent a large geographic rural area with numerous state highways and Interstates that experience a variety of severe weather conditions that affect the highways and the safety of the traveling public.
Wyoming Statewide TMC – The state of Wyoming has one TMC in Cheyenne that manages the Interstates and all state highways that include the majority of the transportation network throughout this rural state. They primarily experience heavy snow, high winds, and blowing/drifting snow throughout the state. Interstate 80 is a major commercial goods transport corridor that traverses the lower portion of the state. The TMC exists primarily to address severe weather conditions that frequently require closure of important Interstates and state highways throughout the state during the winter months. They demonstrated a medium level of weather integration and were very interested in enhancing their weather integration capabilities. They represent a rural statewide TMC with severe weather conditions that significantly impact travel within the state.

2.2 Deployment Plans for Selected TMCs

The three recommended Tier 1 TMCs received extensive support from the consultant team as they implemented the self-evaluation and integration planning process. The two Tier 2 sites went through the same process mostly on their own, with a reduced level of interaction with the consultant team. During this process, the consultant team’s objectives were as follows:

Assist both the Tier 1 and Tier 2 TMCs to increase their level of understanding of the use of road weather information and how it can be better integrated with TMC operations.
Assist both the Tier 1 and Tier 2 TMCs to gain a complete understanding of the Weather Integration Self-Evaluation and Planning Guide and how it can be used to identify possible strategies to enhance weather integration.
Identify Tier 1 and Tier 2 TMCs that would be willing to promote the use of the Guide with their counterparts at other TMCs across the country and speak about their experiences and expectations for future benefits.
Working closely with the Tier 1 TMCs, provide assistance in carrying out their self-evaluation, identifying weather integration strategies, and developing an Integration Plan.
Provide limited assistance to the Tier 2 TMCs and track their progress with the Guide to determine what is needed for a TMC to use the Guide on their own, without extensive help from external sources.
Derive feedback from the TMCs about possible future enhancements to improve the content and usefulness of the Guide based on the experience of both the Tier 1 and Tier 2 TMCs working with the Guide.

2.2.1 Tier 1 TMCs

The consultant team worked closely with each of the Tier 1 TMCs to work through the self-evaluation Guide, identify weather integration strategies, and develop an Integration Plan. As part of this assistance, the consultant conducted up to four site visits to provide structured support to the TMCs, as follows:

Site visit #1: Introduce the process and the Self-Evaluation Guide and review each step and the data needed to conduct the self-evaluation. Identify the right mix of TMC staff to work through the Guide. Identify a schedule for completing the self-evaluation and plan development.
Site visit #2: Review the results of the self-evaluation and the candidate weather integration strategies resulting from the self-evaluation. Review the Weather Integration Plan outline, and identify all the needed information to complete the Integration Plan.
Site visit #3: Review the draft Weather Integration Plan prepared by the TMC and support the completion of the Plan.
Site visit #4: (optional): Review the final Weather Integration Plan and discuss other input and feedback to improve the Guide and the explanation of the process. Depending on the progress made by the TMC, this final site visit may not be needed, and its activities would be incorporated into the third visit.

In addition to these site visits, the consultant conducted monthly (or as needed) phone discussions with the TMC lead contact to review progress, answer questions, and provide assistance to ensure the TMC maintained focus on the tasks and adhered to the agreed upon schedule.

Specific deployment plans were prepared and focused on each TMC that defined the activities to be conducted as part of the project tasks. Table 3, Table 4 and Table 5 provide the deployment plans. Some schedule alterations were made to ensure a smooth project implementation.

Table 3. Weather Information Integration Deployment Plan Overview: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Tier 1 TMC	Colorado Springs Regional TMC
General Description: This regional TMC manages both the freeway system and arterial network for the area surrounding Colorado Springs, Colorado. This includes 30 miles of Interstate 25 and 564 signals. They experience heavy snow and ice conditions, severe thunderstorms with heavy rains, dense fog, and potential for flooding. They currently exhibit a low level of weather integration and are very interested in enhancing their capabilities in this area.
Primary Contact: Rob Helt, TMC Manager		Phone: 719-385-7603
		Email: rhelt@springsgov.com
Others Involved: CDOT representatives from Golden, CO office; Colorado Springs Street Maintenance personnel; city Emergency Operations Center (EOC)
Planned Activities and Tentative Schedule
Activities			Preliminary Dates
Visit 1: Kickoff and introduction meeting			4/22/09
TMC builds internal team			5/1/09
TMC completes self-evaluation and identifies Wx integration strategies			6/12/09
Visit 2: Review strategies and discuss integration planning process			6/24/09
TMC team finalizes strategies			6/26/09
TMC team prepares draft of Integration Plan			8/21/09
Visit 3: Review draft Integration Plan			8/26/09
TMC team finalizes Integration Plan			9/15/09
Visit 4 (optional): Review final Integration Plan			9/15/09
TMC completes Integration Plan; provides feedback on use of Guide			9/25/09
Project Approach/Weather Integration Opportunities: The Colorado Springs Regional TMC will work with representatives from CDOT and the city Street Maintenance Division to conduct the self-evaluation and develop an Integration Plan. They will explore weather integration strategies to better manage their traffic flow on arterials during winter storm conditions with revised signal timing plans. They represent the opportunity to show how smaller TMCs can benefit from enhanced weather integration.
The Consultant’s Planned Involvement: The consultant team will work through the Guide with the Colorado Springs Regional TMC to help them develop their Integration Plan. Three or four visits to Colorado Springs to discuss progress and provide advice will be conducted during the course of the project. Advice may include technical information and examples from other TMCs about specific weather integration strategies that are of interest to Colorado Springs.

Table 4. Weather Information Integration Deployment Plan Overview: Kansas City, Missouri
Tier 1 TMC	Kansas City Scout Regional TMC
General Description: This TMC manages 125 miles of Interstate highways in the Kansas City metropolitan area across a two-state region. The TMC is jointly managed by Missouri and Kansas and is staffed by representatives from both states, with a management structure that alleviates institutional barriers that may otherwise be present. The area experiences heavy rain, flooding, tornadoes, high winds, and some snow. They currently exhibit a medium level of weather integration and are very interested in enhancing their capabilities in this area. They represent a large metropolitan area with numerous Interstate highways that experience heavy congestion and increased traffic crashes during severe weather conditions.
Primary Contact: Jason Sims, TMC Manager		Phone: 816-622-0528 (cell)
		Email: Ervin.sims@modot.mo.gov
Others Involved: Nancy Powell – 816-347-2285
Planned Activities and Tentative Schedule
Activities			Preliminary Dates
Visit 1: Kickoff and introduction meeting			5/27/09
TMC builds internal team			5/29/09
TMC completes self-evaluation and identifies Wx integration strategies			6/26/09
Visit 2: Review strategies and discuss integration planning process			7/8/09
TMC team finalizes strategies			7/10/09
TMC team prepares draft of Integration Plan			8/28/09
Visit 3: Review draft Integration Plan			9/2/09
TMC team finalizes Integration Plan			9/15/09
Visit 4 (optional): Review final Integration Plan			9/16/09
TMC completes Integration Plan; provides feedback on use of Guide			9/25/09
Project Approach/Weather Integration Opportunities: Nancy Powell will lead a group from the Kansas City Scout TMC that will conduct the self-evaluation using the Guide and develop an integration plan. An opportunity exists to enhance their capability to display pertinent weather information on their Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) screens and regional maps.
The Consultant’s Planned Involvement: The consultant team will work through the Guide with the Kansas City Scout TMC to help them develop their weather integration plan. Three or four visits to Kansas City, MO to discuss progress and provide advice will be conducted during the course of the project. Advice may include technical information and examples from other TMCs about specific weather integration strategies that are of interest to Kansas City Scout.

Table 5. Weather Information Integration Deployment Plan Overview: Louisiana
Tier 1 TMC	Louisiana State TMCs
General Description: The state of Louisiana has four TMCs – 3 regional TMCs in Shreveport, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans (to be operational in July 2009); and a statewide TMC located in Baton Rouge. They experience heavy rain, flooding, hurricanes, and tornadoes. Although their use of weather information is expanding and their evacuation preparations have improved significantly since hurricane Katrina, they are currently judged to be at a low level of weather integration.
Primary Contact: Michael Muffoletto (Shreveport TMC)		Phone: 318-549-8347
		Email: michaelmuffoletto@ladotd.gov
Others Involved: Adam Moncivaez (Statewide TMC) – 225-379-2563; Bryan Costello (Baton Rouge TMC) – 225-362-9935; Rachel East (New Orleans TMC) – 225-379-2576
Planned Activities and Tentative Schedule
Activities			Preliminary Dates
Visit 1: Kickoff and introduction meeting			3/17/09
TMC builds internal team			4/1/09
TMC completes self-evaluation and identifies Wx integration strategies			4/13/09
Visit 2: Review strategies and discuss integration planning process			4/28/09
TMC team finalizes strategies			5/1/09
TMC team prepares draft of Integration Plan			6/30/09
Visit 3: Review draft Integration Plan			7/10/09
TMC team finalizes Integration Plan			7/24/09
Visit 4 (optional): Review final Integration Plan			7/31/09
TMC completes Integration Plan; provides feedback on use of Guide			7/31/09
Project Approach/Weather Integration Opportunities: Each of the four TMCs will work through their self-evaluation independently and then meet to discuss the results and identify common and unique weather integration strategies. Working closely with the consultant, they will select a set of weather integration strategies and develop an Integration Plan that outlines how they would proceed to implement the selected strategies in the future. During the process, they will document any possible improvements to the Guide and provide to the consultant.
The Consultant’s Planned Involvement: The consultant team will work through the Guide with the Louisiana TMCs to help them develop their weather integration plan. Three or four visits to Baton Rouge to discuss progress and provide advice will be conducted during the course of the project. Advice may include technical information and examples from other TMCs about specific weather integration strategies that are of interest to Louisiana.

2.2.2 Tier 2 TMCs

The consultant team provided limited assistance to the two Tier 2 TMCs to carry out their self-evaluations and develop weather their integration plans. These TMCs were asked to identify weather integration strategies and develop an integration plan on their own, without external support. As part of this limited assistance, the consultant visited each site, conducted up to four phone conversations with the TMC lead contact to review progress, answered questions, and provided limited assistance to ensure the TMC was maintaining focus on the tasks and keeping with the schedule, as follows:

Phone conversation #1: Introduce the process and the self-evaluation Guide. Suggest the TMC identify a mix of TMC staff to work through the Guide. Jointly agree on a schedule for completing the Guide process.
Phone conversation #2: Check on their status and answer any questions relating to the Guide and their selected weather integration strategies. Review the weather integration plan outline and offer guidance to help assure that the plan fits their needs and corresponding strategies.
Phone conversation #3: Check on their status and answer any questions relating to the development of their draft weather integration plan.
Phone conversation #4: Receive their final weather integration plan and discuss other input and feedback to improve the Guide and the self-evaluation and planning process.

Specific deployment plans were prepared and focused on each Tier 2 TMC that defined the activities to be conducted as part of the project tasks. Table 6 and Table 7 provide the deployment plans. Slight schedule alterations were made as necessary to ensure a smooth project implementation.

The next section provides the results of the work each TMC accomplished through the development and implementation of their deployment plans.

Table 6. Weather Information Integration Deployment Plan Overview: Redding, California
Tier 2 TMC	Redding, California Caltrans District 2 TMC
General Description: This Caltrans District-wide TMC located in Redding, California (north central) manages all the California state highways and Interstates in a large seven-county area. The area experiences heavy rain, flooding, snow at the higher elevations, fires, and high winds. They currently exhibit a low level of weather integration and are very interested in enhancing their capabilities in this area. They represent a large geographic rural area with numerous state highways and Interstates that experience a variety of severe weather conditions that affect the highways and the safety of the traveling public.
Primary Contact: Clint Burkenpas, District Traffic		Phone: 530-225-3245
		Email: clint_burkenpas@dot.ca.gov
Others Involved: None at time plan developed.
Planned Activities and Tentative Schedule
Activities			Preliminary Dates
Phone conference 1: Kickoff and introduction discussion			4/16/09
TMC builds internal team			4/23/09
TMC completes self-evaluation and identifies Wx integration strategies			5/29/09
Phone conference 2: Check status and answer questions			6/9/09
TMC team finalizes strategies and prepares draft Integration Plan			7/29/09
Phone conference 3: Check status and answer questions			7/31/09
TMC team finalizes Integration Plan			8/14/09
Phone conference 4: Receive final Integration Plan and other feedback			8/26/09
Project Approach/Weather Integration Opportunities: The Caltrans District 2 TMC will be introduced to the Guide and provided instructions on its use. They will conduct the self-evaluation process and be asked to develop an Integration Plan with only a minimum of involvement and assistance from the consultant. Four phone conferences will be conducted to check on their status and answer any questions they may have. Their weather integration opportunities include strategies that would provide better road weather forecasting of storm intensity (amount of rain or snow) and more specific locations (road weather information displayed on map).
The Consultant’s Planned Involvement: The consultant team involvement with the Caltrans District 2 TMC will be kept to a minimal level to provide general assistance and check-in phone conferences to track their progress with the self-evaluation, weather integration strategies and preparation of an Integration Plan.

Table 7. Weather Information Integration Deployment Plan Overview: Cheyenne, Wyoming
Tier 2 TMC	Wyoming Statewide TMC
General Description: The state of Wyoming has one TMC in Cheyenne that manages the Interstates and all state highways that provide the majority of the transportation network throughout this extremely rural state. They primarily experience heavy snow, high winds, and blowing/drifting snow throughout the state. Interstate 80 is a major commercial goods transport corridor that traverses the lower portion of the state. The TMC exists primarily to address severe weather conditions that frequently close important Interstates and state highways throughout the state during the winter months. They currently demonstrate a medium level of weather integration and are very interested in enhancing their weather integration capabilities. They represent a rural statewide TMC with severe weather conditions that significantly impact travel within the state.
Primary Contact: Vince Garcia, ITS Program Manager		Phone: 307-214-0235 (cell)
		Email: vince.garcia@dot.state.wy.us
Others Involved: Kevin Cox, ITS-Systems Engineer; 307-777-4620; kevin.cox@dot.state.wy.us.
Planned Activities and Tentative Schedule
Activities			Preliminary Dates
Phone conference 1: Kickoff and introduction discussion			4/22/09
TMC builds internal team			4/23/09
TMC completes self-evaluation and identifies Wx integration strategies			5/29/09
Phone conference 2: Check status and answer questions			6/9/09
TMC team finalizes strategies and prepares draft Integration Plan			7/29/09
Phone conference 3: Check status and answer questions			7/31/09
TMC team finalizes Integration Plan			8/14/09
Phone conference 4: Receive final Integration Plan and other feedback			8/26/09
Project Approach/Weather Integration Opportunities: The Wyoming Statewide TMC will be introduced to the Guide and provided instructions on its use. They will conduct the self-evaluation process and be asked to develop an Integration Plan with only a minimum of involvement and assistance from the consultant. Four phone conferences will be conducted to check on their status and answer any questions they may have. Their weather integration opportunities include strategies that would provide the means to automatically control traffic management devices on their Interstates and major state highways (such as variable speed signs).
The Consultant’s Planned Involvement: The consultant team involvement with the Wyoming Statewide TMC will be kept to a minimal level to provide general assistance and check-in phone conferences to track their progress with the self-evaluation, weather integration strategies and preparation of an Integration Plan.

⁵ Research and Innovative Technology Administration. (2007). ITS Deployment Statistics Database: Survey and Results. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation. Available at: www.itsdeployment.its.dot.gov.