U.S. Public Preferences for Weather and Road Condition Information

In 2008, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Board on Enterprise Planning (BEP) established the Committee on Mobile Observations to discuss the application and utilization of mobile weather and road condition data in the context of supporting the weather and transportation communities and how these data could be used to improve safety and mobility across the nation's surface transportation system. The goal of the committee is to articulate a clear vision for mobile data that captures the immense opportunities for these data to improve road weather services and transportation safety and mobility. The Committee on Mobile Observations is engaged in numerous activities to accomplish its goal, which includes a nationwide survey of the traveling public to obtain better information on their preferences for and interests in obtaining weather and road condition information, their willingness to share vehicle data, and their willingness to pay for enhanced services. This paper outlines the results of the survey. Working through Survey Sampling International, the survey obtained 1627 responses. Results show that people are strongly interested in obtaining road weather information, though they remain wary of sharing data, and they are disinclined to pay for the data. Stratifications note some regional differences in the level of interest in data, as well as dependencies between the amount of information desired, and the willingness to pay for it and to share vehicle information.