New Ways of Providing and Taking Advantage of Road Weather Information

Information about weather and road conditions (i.e. road weather information) can be used to improve the efficiency of the road network. This paper will examine the different ways that road weather information is acquired, managed and utilized as a variety of services are supplied to road users. Weather and forecast services refining and distributing this information to road users and to network and maintenance operators can generate significant benefits to stakeholders and society. Until recently, the distribution of weather-related information to individuals and organizations making travel and transportation decisions in a meaningful way has been a bottleneck in realizing the full potential inherent in the concept of taking prevailing and predicted weather and road conditions into account when planning for the movement of people and goods. The increasing number of mobile devices will provide one solution to this problem: mobile devices can be used to provide up-to-date information to road users and parties responsible for performing maintenance operations. Mobile devices are also increasingly used as sensors to produce information in addition to just presenting it. Furthermore, an important future research topic is identified: typically, road weather information is discussed in the context of the main road network. However, urban environments with their high traffic network utilization rates and varying surface materials pose some interesting challenges to measuring and predicting the road surface condition, and innovative solutions are needed to respond to them and contributing to making cities even smarter.