1 FHWA-sponsored research on the costs and benefits of MDSS Pat Kennedy FHWA Road Weather Management MDSS Stakeholder Meeting August 10, 2006

2 Why is the FHWA sponsoring this kind of research? We need to quantify the costs and benefits in order to: –get a better understanding of the “true” value of MDSS –aid in marketing the deployment

3 What are the objectives? Describing the essential functions of a winter MDSS Describing the resources needed to supply these essential functions Characterizing and estimating the costs of deployment Characterizing and estimating the benefits of deployment

4 What types of tasks will be involved? Interviewing various MDSS stakeholders Developing cost/benefit estimates of MDSS deployment alternatives and evaluating the risk associated with each estimate Characterizing, in qualitative terms, intangible cost/benefits of MDSS deployment alternatives Reporting on the findings Preparing outreach material that highlights the salient features of this research

5 Who will benefit? The FHWA expects this research to produce “real” documentation about the cost/benefits of MDSS, and also confirm the fact that MDSS is a good investment State DOT representatives will benefit by having this documentation available to make the case for MDSS to their administrators Strengthens the market for private sector

6 How is the FHWA going to support this effort? The FHWA is supporting this effort by offering to sponsor at least two independent CBA’s of at least two different versions of MDSS for the upcoming 2006/07 winter season. One of these CBA’s is already in place, and will be administered by the South Dakota DOT for 1 or 2 states involved in the Meridian/Pooled Fund version of MDSS A second CBA is being considered for the DTN/Meteorlogix version of MDSS