Road weather information systems (RWIS) provide snowfighters with unprecedented access to crucial, real-time information enabling improved winter roadway operations, improved public safety, mobility and productivity. Like all road management improvements, innovative RWIS technologies reduce the exposure of road agencies and road users to certain liabilities.
The effect can be cross-cutting. The potential for improved safety, for example, raises realistic public expectations that better plowing and salting will cut the number of crashes, injuries and fatalities. These issues are examined in a new report issued earlier this month by Jaime Rall of the National Conference of State Legislatures, Weather or Not? State Liability and Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS) . The NCSL report is a resource for state legislators and state DOTs.
NCSL explains why this is an important question:
Weather significantly affects the traveling public and the transportation agencies that operate and maintain the nation’s roadways. Recent studies estimate that 24 percent of all crashes and 17 percent of traffic fatalities are weather-related—more than 1.5 million accidents per year, resulting in over 673,000 injuries and nearly 7,400 fatalities.1 Adverse weather also is the second-largest cause of non-recurring highway congestion, accounting for approximately 15 percent of traffic delays nationwide. Winter road maintenance alone accounts for about 20 percent of state DOT maintenance budgets. State and local transportation agencies spend more than $2.5 billion each year on snow and ice control operations, and more than $5 billion to repair weather-damaged roadway infrastructure.
Because RWIS systems deliver a benefit cost ratio between 2:1 and 10:1, RWIS adoption has been broad and rapid in the North American snowbelt; at least 44 states and DC have RWIS systems. The data from 33 states and three cities are integrated into the huge "anytime, anywhere" Clarus database available to all transportation users and operators.
The power of this information is a two-edged sword and state DOTs, says NCSL, are exposed to legal liabilities with regard to its public, particularly online, dissemination of this information (the problem isn't entirely mitigated if a third party like Clarus is involved), altered standards of liability for road agencies under their duty to respond to the new RWIS information and potential suits for agencies that choose not to use this useful tool.
The report makes it clear that
RWIS can help DOTs avoid a “breach of duty,” without which there is no liability, by helping them meet their legal duties. When a DOT has notice of a dangerous condition, these duties include exercising reasonable care to either alleviate the condition or provide adequate warning to the traveling public. Because RWIS can help a DOT meet these responsibilities—for example, by supporting better informed maintenance decisions, automated road treatments and real-time traveler information—it can thus reduce exposure to certain liabilities.
RWIS also creates new duties: Undertaking a new practice or service that affects public safety creates a duty to perform it with reasonable care." In sum:
RWIS might also affect what constitutes a standard of reasonable care for the traditional duties of state DOTs, raising expectations for how DOTs handle dangerous situations. There are earlier decisions in which the lack of advanced RWIS-type technologies was mentioned. In 1982, for example, the Supreme Court of Michigan held the state DOT not negligent because, among other factors, “the technology available at the time of the accident was not advanced to such point as would permit the installation of a flashing sign which would be automatically activated upon the actual appearance of ice on [a] bridge…” Now, however, real-time detection and automated
warnings are available.
The report makes a series of recommendations on how agencies can manage these new liabilities.
A decade ago, road safety and mobility policy pinned its hopes on technology to abate the appallingly high highway fatality rate. That bright promise has been laboring, not languishing, but clearly needs a boost to achieve the vision of harnessing wireless technology and on-board vehicle communications to overcome distracted driving and make our roads both safer and reliably free-flowing. A new DOT white paper, Achieving the Vision: From VII to IntelliDrive
, suggests adding a new component to the strategy -- road weather information (RWIS) data -- to break through the policy "chicken and egg" conundrum of whether to invest first in "smart roads" or rather in "smart cars."
The white paper outlines a research strategy for the next five years incorporating RWIS information. Noting that RWIS systems are an increasingly common infrastructure enhancement, the white paper opines:
For both road weather and environmental applications, vehicle systems may be a powerful source of new data. In the case of road weather, for example, vehicle-based data can supplement conventional weather data, primarily collected in the atmosphere, to provide more relevant and pervasive information about roadway surface conditions. For instance, activation of automatic stability control systems on multiple vehicles in a common location could indicate slippery pavement that needs treatment. Similarly, vehicle-based data may provide new information sources that could enable new transportation management techniques that are sensitive to environmental impact. For example, data generated from IntelliDrive systems may provide system operators with detailed , real-time information on the location, speed, and operating conditions of vehicles using their system. This data could enable transportation agencies to manage system operations more efficiently -- for example, by adjusting traffic signal timing to accommodate the predominant directional flow of traffic, which can save fuel and reduce environmental impact.
For snowfighters, this means that tools developed to help them speed their lifesaving emergency service of restoring roadway safety and mobility will have broader application. As slippery roads trigger the anti-skid brake systems and in-pavement "loops" detecting traffic flow document the congestion of snow- and ice-covered roads -- the primary impairment to winter safety and mobility -- these same tools used by snowfighters in managing their operations will provide a key input into our national vision for safer roads and more reliable roadway mobility.
The proverb avers: failing to plan is planning to fail." So true. The Federal Highway Adminstration has a new Primer on Safety Performance Measures for the Transportation Planning Process . It's worth a read.
Recently, the American Highway Users Alliance issued an important report on the economic costs caused by the paralysis or congestion caused by failed snowfighting efforts . It mirrors results from earlier studies (1999 and 2004) commissioned by the Salt Institute.
The new FHWA report points out that these economic costs of impaired mobility are overshadowed by the economic savings generated by safe roads. Safety benefits in 85 US metro areas are 1.3 to 4 times greater than congestion costs. Again, the Salt Institute has commissioned the definitive study of the safety benefits of proper winter maintenance, the Marquette Report .
As you read this report, we hope you'll be struck with two facts: 1) performance measures are what drives performance by making possible an understanding of the difference which different interventions produce and 2) that the current crop of performance measures are too blunt an instrument for the delicate operation of timely and effective winter maintenance. The state and federal databases being used may be suitable for many purposes, but their infrequent updating renders then useless for snowfighting planning and operations management. They measure most of the right variables, but an annual figure identifying an at-risk location is inadequate to identify the relationship between, for example, severe winter weather and the consequent snowfighting operations and the safety outcomes.
Special studies like the Marquette Report and a new study underway in Ontario can pinpoint the benefit of applying salt and plowing winter roads, but none of the recommended data sets can produce time- and weather/snowfighting-sensitive data.
A few years ago, a survey of state DOT Safety Management Plans found that none included snowfighting operations among the proven technologies to keep roads safe. That was a travesty then; its even worse today when ever more people depend on highways to deliver safely themselves and the goods and services they demand.
We need every jurisdiction to implement a winter operations component into their community and state/provincial roadway safety plan to identify not only WHERE crashes occur, but WHEN, as in during winter storms on untreated roads.
Today, at the National Press Club, American Highway Users Alliance released a study by IHS Global Insight estimating the economic impact of snowstorms in sixteen U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. The study found that "hundreds of millions of dollars in economic opportunity are lost each day that a state is shuttered by impassable roads."
“Lost wages of hourly workers account for about two-thirds of the direct economic impact of a major snowstorm,” said James Gillula, Managing Director of Global Insight and the principal researcher of the study. “Among all workers, hourly wage workers can suffer the most painful economic losses and the indirect economic effects of their lost wages can ripple through the economy.”
The study, the Highway Users noted, gives needed perspective on the true costs of what is often thought of as harmless and fun. For state and local authorities, they suggested, it could serve as a wakeup call for bigger snow removal budgets.“Although snow days often conjure happy childhood memories, this study makes it crystal clear that they have a tangible and serious negative impact on real working people and a wide range of businesses,” said Greg Cohen, Highway Users President and CEO. “The shocking losses estimated by this study should light a fire under state and local authorities nationwide to get serious about investing in quicker and more effective snow and ice removal. When roads are left unsafe or impassible, it is like money being thrown down the drain.”
This study highlights the economic necessity of snowfighting and the fact that one successful day of snowfighting can more than repay the entire costs of a year of snowfighting in economic benefits. As we exit one of the most devastating years for snowstorms in recent memory and a difficult year economically, the press is covering this story with gusto, as they should. State and local authorities cannot afford to sacrifice commerce and safety as they make budget decisions for next year.
The last official day of "winter" certainly lived up to its billing, dumping 7 inches of snow in the northern suburbs of Dallas, TX. The area thus records its snowiest winter in history. Savor the picture. It may have to last you until next November..
White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is notorious for his advice: "don't waste a good crisis." The National Journal (subscription required) recounts how presidents have evolved in their appreciation that blizzards are national emergencies in the magazine's current article "For presidents, snow has become a reliable catastrophe. It used to be something that you just had to live with ."
President Obama has declared a disaster to facilitate a federal bailout of DC area snowfighters. Last year, he was joking about how well Chicago handled snow and ice. Now he lives in Washington, DC and can appreciate that failed snowfighting is no joke. The article continues:
Where snow falls, disaster follows. Legally, that is. Presidents have turned increasingly to disaster designations over the past 60 years, and snow has become an ever-more-popular entry. But they ignored it at first. It wasn't until January 1977 that snow, by itself, made the disaster cut. That was in Buffalo, N.Y. (no winter wimps there).
Carter started something, and since then snow has become a reliable catastrophe. Last year alone, there were 17 disaster declarations linked to severe winter storms.
It used to be something you just had to live with. When Eva Clark of Pittsfield, Mass., sent Grover Cleveland views of her city after the Blizzard of 1888, along with pictures of the same streets in summer, the president replied, helpfully, "The storm must have been severe to have so filled the streets of Pittsfield with snow, but the views in summer show so delightful a change that you will soon be enjoying the pleasures of your shady home."
Even in the face of real disaster, presidents shrugged. After 98 people died when the roof of Washington's Knickerbocker Theater collapsed in 1922, Warren Harding said, "The terrible tragedy, staged in the midst of a great storm, has deeply depressed all of us and left us wondering about the revolving fates."
Fortunately, we don't have to accept that snowfall equals disaster. Ask your local professional snowfighter!
Apparently, we're not the only ones that thinks the Illinois Policy Institute's new study rating Chicago's snowfighting service: See What They're Saying about Ready for the Snow? is important. The IPI posted this page:
2/16/2010
On February 16th, The Illinois Policy Institute released Ready for the Snow? , an in depth report grading Chicago's snow removal efforts. Here is a sample of what others are saying about the report:Associated Press: Chicago Says It Could Have Handled East Coast Storm
An Associated Press story ran in several publications including the Chicago Sun-Times and News Oklahoma , mentions the Institute's snow removal study, in which we give the city of Chicago an 'A' for their snow removal efforts in the wake of a storm that dropped over a foot of snow on the city.
NBC Chicago: Chicago Makes Snow Removal Honor Roll
NBC Chicago references the Institute's comprehensive study on Chicago's snow removal efforts.
The Salt Institute: Judging Snowfighting Performance
The Salt Institute calls the Illinois Policy Institute's work "outstanding advocacy on behalf of winter safety and mobility."
The Huffington Post: Chicago Snow Clearing Grades: 'A' For Main Roads, 'B+' For Side Streets
The Huffington Post discusses our snow report and the improvements in snow removal that it points to from January to February.
WAND-TV: Snow Removal Means Overtime for City Workers
WAND-TV discusses the cost of snow removal and the 'A' rating the city received in our review of their snow removal services.
Chicagoist: Chicago to East Coast: Your Snow Removal Sucks
The Chicagoist compares Chicago's snow removal efforts, and the 'A' grade it received in our report, to the removal efforts of east coast cities.
For generations, assessing snowfighter performance was a virtual monopoly for transportation and public works professionals, with "purse-string-holders" looking over their shoulder. The public might be happy ... or not, but for the most part, they tolerated delinquent or poor quality service.
There were exceptions to be sure. Chicago mayor Michael Bilandic's infamous snowfighting glitch that ended his electoral career is only the most prominent example. Highway users, roadway safety groups and taxpayer advocates, however, were generally patient as crews struggled heroically to clear away ice and snow.
That may be changing. Media headlines in the hard-hit DC area have included: "Snow paralysis has cost too much " and "Mayor Fenty fails the snow test ."
DC isn't the only place it's snowed, however. Today, the Illinois Policy Institute released a report assessing snowfighting effectiveness in Chicago; it is entitled "Ready for the Snow? Gauging Illinois’s performance on a critical core service ." After recounting the Bilandic episode, the report continues:
People expect clear roads during wintertime – and they want the roads cleared in a timely fashion. If government fails to meet expectations, it does not go unnoticed. In the winter of 2008-2009, Chicago cut overtime services, leaving side roads iced over for days.
Chicagoans were not happy. For the 2009-2010 winter season, Mayor Richard Daley outlined plans to avoid previous mistakes and has committed to keeping the roads safe and clear. Chicago’s Street and Sanitation Department’s 2009 personnel budget for snow removal is $6 million.
The Illlinois Policy Institute report makes a strong defense of snowfighting investments and quotes approvingly from agencies around the state with high levels of winter road maintenance service.
Budgeting for snow removal sits near the top of the priority list for local governments around Illinois; Sangamon County Highway Engineer Tim Zahrn noted, “That’s the first thing we budget for; that’s our primary responsibility.” Officials in the state capital city of Springfield say they “will deploy whatever resources are needed on a storm-by-storm basis.”
IPI calls for new performance standards for snow and ice control operations.It’s no secret snow causes car accidents.
According to the Federal Highway Administration, every year the following occurs:
- 24 percent of weather-related vehicle crashes occur on snowy, slushy or icy pavement.
- 15 percent of weather-related vehicle crashes happen during snowfall or sleet.
- Over 1,300 people are killed and more than 116,800 people are injured in vehicle crashes on snowy, slushy or icy pavement.
Budgeting for road clearing during winter season is a top priority and major budget item for state and local government. Preparation is key for combating winter storms, and once the storm arrives, local and state governments need to hold themselves accountable by implementing snow removal performance standards. In order to measure snow removal standards, state and local governments can set up a metric system to gauge good or poor performance.
And the metric it endorses is truly cast in terms of delivering service on winter roads for roadway users.
- How well was snow removal and salting maintained during the snowstorm?
- How many accidents occurred because of weather conditions?
- How was travel time affected because of the snow?
- At which point were main and side roads clear after the snowstorm stopped?
These are the very questions that snowfighting managers have been grappling with for years. It's nice to see the public paying more attention to its snowfighting investment -- usually the largest single roadway operating budget item for a snowbelt road agency.
Congratulations to the Illinois Policy Institute for its outstanding advocacy on behalf of winter safety and mobility.
With the record-setting snowfall in the DC area this winter, hard on the heels of the embarrassment of ClimateGate, global warming proponents have been rather defensive of late. Among the most outspoken evangelicals has been Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a lawyer associated with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
A Washington Examiner story recently quoted liberally from Kennedy's global warming warnings during the 2008 presidential campaign. Kennedy wrote an op ed in the LA Times concerning his long acquaintance with weather in the nation's capital:
Snow is so scarce today that most Virginia children probably don't own a sled. But neighbors came to our home at Hickory Hill nearly every winter weekend to ride saucers and Flexible Flyers.
In those days, I recall my uncle, President Kennedy, standing erect as he rode a toboggan in his top coat, never faltering until he slid into the boxwood at the bottom of the hill. Once, my father, Atty. Gen. Robert Kennedy, brought a delegation of visiting Eskimos home from the Justice Department for lunch at our house. They spent the afternoon building a great igloo in the deep snow in our backyard. My brothers and sisters played in the structure for several weeks before it began to melt. On weekend afternoons, we commonly joined hundreds of Georgetown residents for ice skating on Washington's C&O Canal, which these days rarely freezes enough to safely skate.
Meanwhile, Exxon Mobil and its carbon cronies continue to pour money into think tanks whose purpose is to deceive the American public into believing that global warming is a fantasy.
With more than four feet of non-fantasized snow on the ground, igloos in many yards, skaters on the Georgetown canal and myriad sleds and toboggans miraculously appearing, you'd think Kennedy would be embarrassed. Don't bet on it. This is the say guy who argued that a proposed saltworks at San Ignacio lagoon on the Pacific coast of Mexico's Baja would remove so much salt from the ocean that newborn whale calves would find insufficient buoyancy to float and would perish. Underlining the importance of educating the public about salt production, his specious appeal raised more than $100 million, some of which was used to bludgeon proposers of the new saltworks. Truthful, no. But without apology or shame.
Analyses of the economic devastation of snowfalls that paralyze roadway systems confirm the value of effective snowfighting -- and its cost-effectiveness. HIstorical studies were reinforced with the record snowfalls that hit the DC metro area last week. A Wells Fargo analyst told the Wall Street Journal's Marketwatch :
Some spending increased because of the storms. More money was spent to remove snow, and to repair structures damaged by the ice and snow. Sales of snow shovels and parkas increased. Snow can be a stimulus.
On the other hand, some activity was lost forever. "The losses are real," said Mark Vitner, an economist for Wells Fargo Securities. People who were snowed in won't buy an extra lunch when they get back to work, and they won't park their car twice.
Winter storms are more disruptive than damaging.
"The February numbers are going to be a mess," Vitner said. "It's a downer, but how much of a downer, we don't know." Employment, hours worked, wages and retail sales could decline sharply in February, only to rebound in March, if history is any guide. That movement will mostly reflect the timing of the snapshots of economic activity, and not a fundamental shift in the economy's direction.
And a Deutsche Bank economist added:
Economist Joe LaVorgna of Deutsche Bank figures a snow storm in the survey week lowers payrolls by an average of 90,000 compared with the trend line.
For instance, payrolls fell by a seasonally adjusted 51,000 in March 1993 when the "storm of the century" lashed the Midwest and East during the survey week. Employment was strong before and after the storm. In February before the storm, payrolls had risen by 309,000; in April, payrolls rose by 250,000. The average workweek fell by 0.6% in March.
The 1993 storm also had an impact on seasonally adjusted retail sales, which sank 0.7% in March, only to rise 2.2% in April. Housing starts were also bruised by the 1993 storm, falling more than 10% in March and rising more than 16% in April.
During the blizzard of 1996, payrolls fell by 19,000 in January, and then rebounded by 434,000 in February. Average hours fell by 1.2%, the fourth largest decline on record. The three largest declines in hours worked were also due to severe winter storms.
An amendment just incorporated into a pending New Hampshire legislative bill seeking to create pathbreaking mandatory certification of snowfighters would exempt those who apply about 80% of the road salt in that state. That's bad public policy.
True, private sector snowfighters need more and better training, but so do those who labor in public employ to keep our winter roads safe and passable.
Today is Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow -- a "reliable" indicator that there will be six more weeks of winter weather.
Even casual observers of road salt operations in the North American snowbelt recognize that most of the salt used to keep winter roads safe and passable is applied by public agencies. And for a half century, there has been consensus that over-application of road salt imposes unnecessary environmental costs. That's why the Salt Institute has been promoting "Sensible Salting" for more than 40 years -- application of the minimum amount of salt needed to achieve desired levels of service. Sensible Salting has been the mainstay of employee training programs for decades. Sensible Salting has won public service awards.
Snowfighter training is the key to improved salt management. Every state has a federally-subsidized Local Technology Assistance Program and snowbelt state LTAPs offer training to government and private snowfighters on how to do the job right. Problem: some agencies and contractors skimp (or even ignore) training. As a result, their application of road salt doesn't reflect best management practices. Training has always been voluntary and, as a result, inconsistent. That's the case in every state, not just New Hampshire whose motto famously proclaims "Live free or die."
New Hampshire Rep. Margaret Crisler (R-Rockingham) wants to convert the inconsistent voluntary approach and force snowfighter training throughout the state. We support the intent to improve snowfighter training, though this legislative vehicle has problems.
Rep. Crisler, at the request of the Department of Environmental Services (DES), has introduced HB 1676 to require certification of all snowfighters except homeowners and business owners who are putting salt on their own property. The bill enjoys support from the entire state bureaucracy, DES (which would draft the certification standards and enforce the program), the department of transportation, the department of safety and the department of resources and economic development. But these state departments, perhaps also reflecting municipalities throughout the state, insist that state and municipal snowfighters be exempted from the certification requirement . In other words, the guy with the pick-up truck putting out hundreds of pounds of salt on a shopping center or office complex parking lot would pay fees and be required to certify their operators, but the NH DOT and the municipal crews that operate the large plow/spreader trucks that spread the vast majority of the salt would be exempted.
Live free or die?
The House Resources, Recreation and Development Committee is scheduled to vote on the bill February 4. A couple part-time DES employees would be required to develop and administer the certification program, the DES estimated (before insisting the bill be confined only to private contractors).
Want to register your views ?
Also of note: hidden deep in the bill is a provision limiting the liability of property owners who employ best salt management practices.
Lee Smithson, the coordinator for AASHTO's Snow and Ice Cooperative Program (SICOP) has announced that TRB has posted to its website five technical papers considered to be "Practice Ready"
. They include
#1. "Guidance for Creating and Maintaining Written Snow and Ice Control Plan and Policy Documents". This paper begins on page 287 of E-C126. The paper discusses the importance, benefits, creation process and suggested content of written snow and ice control plan and policy documents for all levels of government. It also cites the experience and success of three diverse agencies to highlight the importance and utility of the documents. The paper is comprehensive and presents subject matter to guide agencies in the development of their plan and policy documents.
#2. "Providing Winter Road Maintenance Guidance, An Update of the Federal Highway Administration Maintenance Decision Support System". This paper begins on page 199 of E-C126. This paper provides an overview of the development of the Federal Prototype MDSS. It documents the five versions of the Federal Prototype that have been developed and released and the enhancement of the Rules of Practice based on field demonstrations, the addition of more chemicals types to the treatment recommendations, a frost module, etc. The paper acknowledges the importance of stakeholders and the incorporation of their feedback into the features and functions that now make up the current version of the MDSS.
#3. "Maintenance Decision Support System is not Just for State Departments of Transportation". This paper begins on page 240 of E-C126. This paper presents the use of MDSS in a county and city application. Excellent success is reported and it is anticipated they will expand MDSS to their summer operations. A study has been started to determine the direct and indirect benefits of MDSS.
#4. "An Overview of Implementation and Deployment of the Pooled Fund Study Maintenance Decision Support System". This paper begins on page 229 of E-C126. The paper describes the development of the pooled fund study (PFS) MDSS. This pooled fund has been guided by ten state DOTs and therefore accommodates a wide range of operating practices and deployment options.
#5. "Integrating Weather into Transportation Operations: A Utah Department of Transportation Case Study". This paper begins on page 318 of E-C126. The paper describes the Utah DOT Weather Operations/RWIS Program and a research project to determine how its services were being used to change and improve business practices. The project included surveys of Utah DOT maintenance foremen and construction engineers and quantitative benefit/cost analysis based on data collected regarding winter maintenance activities and outcomes.
Although the freshly-fallen snow blankets our Salt Institute offices, overall, the North American winter has been mild-to-normal. So it came as no surprise when the Canadian Press headlined "Sifto Salt laying off 80 people at its salt mine in Goderich, Ont." The company explained that it was reducing from 7-days-a-week production to five, normal for this time of year.
All the company's stockpiles are filled to capacity, the Compass Minerals' unit added.
Think back just one year ago, when road agencies were bemoaning the difficulty of obtaining sufficient deicing salt to stay ahead of winter and keep roads safe and passable.
It's a quiet victory, but let's declare the battle won which the salt industry began two years ago in trying to recover from back-to-back severe winters (with record salt sales) which totally depleted supplies from mines to regional stockpiles to customer salt sheds. Perhaps the lessons learned about the need for improved customer on-site storage are beginning to make a difference.
Well done, salt industry.
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