United States Department of Transportation
i
Weather Information for Surface Transportation: National Needs Assessment Report
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2002-12-01
[PDF-8.01 MB]
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TRIS Online Accession Number:01021019
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Abstract:This report is the product of an extensive 3-year interagency effort and is an historic achievement from the standpoint that it is the first-ever compilation of weather support needs across the six surface transportation sectors: roadway, railway, transit, marine transportation, pipeline systems, and airport ground operations. The report makes clear that by meeting the requirements for provision of weather information for surface transportation to users, we can often increase safety and realize economic benefits at the same time. Costs of roadway weather serve as a good example of this. Adverse weather is estimated to play a role, directly or indirectly, in 800,000 injuries and 7,000 fatalities annually resulting from vehicle crashes. This represents approximately 28 percent of all highway crashes and 19 percent of all fatalities. The estimated annual economic cost, just from weather-related crashes (deaths, injuries and property), amounts to nearly $42 billion. A study of the effects of snow, ice, and fog estimated that these weather conditions caused 544 million vehicle-hours of delay on highways in 1999. As an example of a weather information system that has had beneficial effects on highway maintenance and safety, a forecast-activated anti-icing pretreatment has been tested on a 29-mile length of Idaho highway that is frequently icy in winter. The test resulted in a 62 percent reduction in road maintenance labor hours, an 83 percent reduction in abrasives used to improve traction, and an 83 percent decrease in crashes. A road weather service system in Finland for both road maintenance personnel and road users has an estimated cost–benefit ratio of approximately 1 to 5 for snow and ice control. Weather information systems help travelers to make the safest decisions for their travel. The report also makes clear the importance of environmental support to homeland security; we need better weather information to support the emergency response to disasters inflicted on our communities by those who would do us harm.
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