Overview
Weather has a significant impact on the operations of the nation’s roadway system year round. These weather events translate into changes in traffic conditions, roadway safety, travel reliability, operational effectiveness, and productivity. It is, therefore, an important responsibility of traffic managers and maintenance personnel to implement operational strategies that optimize system performance by mitigating the effects of weather on the roadways. Accurate, timely, route-specific weather information allows traffic and maintenance managers to better operate and maintain roads under adverse conditions. Connected vehicle technologies hold the promise to transform road-weather management. Road weather connected vehicle applications will dramatically expand the amount of data that can be used to assess, forecast, and address the impacts that weather has on roads, vehicles, and travelers; fundamentally changing the manner in which weather-sensitive transportation system management and operations are conducted. The US Department of Transportation’s Road Weather Management Program has developed this Concept of Operations (ConOps) to define the priorities for connected vehicle-enabled road-weather applications.