WTI

Advanced Snowplow Development and Demonstration Project

Primary Investigator Contact Information

External Project Contact(s)

Report(s)

1. Advanced Snowplow and Demonstration Final Report
   1. Eli Cuelho
   2. 429520_Final_Report.pdf

Project Objective

The objective of this project is to evaluate AVCSS technologies on snowplow maintenance on rural roadway segments in California and Arizona.

Project Abstract

Winter maintenance operations, including snow removal, are subject to increased risk by conditions such as total visual whiteout, low traction on wet or icy pavement, drifting snow and roadways completely covered by snow. Additional hazards are posed by objects buried in or obscured by snow. Furthermore, snowplow operators often lack important visual cues as to their position on the roadway due to accumulations of snow from previous plowing activities. In many of the colder, mountainous states, snowplows that run off the roadway have greater potential for equipment damage and personal injury due to the mountainous terrain in which much of the snow removal operations take place. The opportunity to address these risks with Advanced Vehicle Control Systems (AVCS) technologies was the impetus for the Advanced Snowplow Development and Demonstration project. These AVCS technologies have been incorporated into the United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Intelligent Vehicle Initiative (IVI) program.The main purpose of the Advanced Snowplow Development and Demonstration project was to design, integrate and test AVCS technologies on snowplow maintenance equipment. This phase of the project has attempted to assess potential benefits associated with combining conventional snowplow operations with Intelligent Vehicle (IV) technologies in terms of improved efficiency and safety on rural roadway segments in California and Arizona. A prototype snowplow was equipped with lateral lane indication and forward collision warning systems. The subsequent evaluation attempted to determine the effectiveness of the advanced technology system in terms of safety and operational efficiency, as well as perceived benefits or concerns expressed by the snowplow operators. In addition, the accuracy and reliability of the system was examined. The results of this initial evaluation will first, provide the results necessary to determine the feasibility of AVCS in improving safety and efficiency of snowplow removal and second, help establish a methodology for future AVCS evaluation projects.The demonstration team represented in this phase of the ASP project was made up of technology developers, vehicle operators, research organizations and governmental entities. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) are responsible for snow removal on their State highways and play a key part in the development and deployment of both specialty vehicles and cooperative infrastructure technologies in their States. The University of California – Berkeley, Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH) program, University of California – Davis, Advanced Highway Maintenance and Construction Technology (AHMCT) program and the Western Transportation Institute (WTI) at Montana State University – Bozeman are the national leaders in research in their respective specialties of vehicle automation technology, specialized maintenance vehicle development and rural transportation research.

Task Descriptions

1. Coordinate System Implementation
   1. This task will require significant project management effort by the WTI research team. The Western Transportation Institute, in cooperation with Caltrans, will be responsible for coordinating the demonstration development efforts among the various entities. Furthermore, WTI will coordinate and facilitate demonstration efforts and information dissemination with local agencies and jurisdictions as needed or requested.
2. Final Report
   1. A final report will be prepared that documents the Demonstration and Evaluation phases of the project. The report will document the implementation phase, highlight any challenges or issues encountered and report the evaluation results. Reports will be gathered from the other project partners and incorporated into a final report. The final report will consist of two steps 1) a draft stage for all partners to review and 2) the final report. Step two will incorporated comments from step one, where appropriate.
3. Develop Evaluation Methodology
   1. The WTI research team will develop a methodology to quantify the operational and safety-related benefits, where applicable. This evaluation methodology will also consider any qualitative or perceived benefits. The evaluation methodology will guide the collection of similar data elements prior to and following system demonstration, to support statistically valid before/after comparisons. Surveys and other data gathering means will be developed to support the qualitative and perceived benefits. If there is not enough data to support statistically valid before/after comparisons (due to the short testing period), this phase may simply provide development and support of Phase II.
4. Statistical Analysis
   1. A statistically valid analysis will be performed to determine whether any measurable benefits occurred, if applicable. As mentioned previously, limited data to support a statistical analysis may reduce this effort to more of an information gathering phase to support Phase II efforts. Statistical data analysis will be performed on each partnering state project.
5. Disseminate Demonstration Findings
   1. The findings from the demonstration summarized in the final report will be distributed to a wide variety of influential groups to foster support and interest for Phase II. Such groups may include the National Automated Highway Systems Consortium (NAHSC), ITS America, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and various state Departments of Transportation.
6. Collect Evaluation Data
   1. After the systems have been effectively demonstrated for a specified length of time, data collection efforts will be performed to adequately document qualitative and quantitative benefits. The data collected will depend on the quantitative measures of effectiveness and qualitative descriptors defined in Phase 2.1. These may be broadened depending on auxiliary anticipated benefits. The WTI research staff will coordinate with Caltrans, partnering states and local agencies to accomplish the necessary data collection. A visit to the demonstration sites will be necessary to assimilate the essential data and ensure an effective understanding of environmental and infrastructure conditions by WTI researchers.
7. Project Partner Development for Phase II
   1. The Western Transportation Institute will assist in facilitating other partners for involvement in Phase II. Phase II may provide for regional rather than site-specific demonstration of these advanced technologies. Furthermore, lessons learned from Phase I may encourage support from other agencies and states to participate in the Phase II pooled fund study. Thus increasing financial and political support and providing a more robust project.
8. Corridor Selection
   1. The Western Transportation Institute, in cooperation with project partners, will ensure that the selected corridor has a high potential for leading to a successful evaluation. The selected corridor should provide adequate data for a valid before/after analysis to quantify technology benefits within “rural” regions.

Milestones, Dates, Schedule

Student Involvement

True

Relationship to Other Research Projects

True

Technology Transfer Activities

True

Transportation Research Board Keywords

Partners

University of California-Davis