APPLICATION OF ADVANCED ITS INTERFACING THAT IMPROVE[S] MAINTENANCE OPERATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS AND WINTER SAFETY IN RURAL AREAS WITH FOCUS ON WINTER ROADWAY FRICTION MEASUREMENT AND ROADWAY SURFACE FREEZING POINT

In 1995, the State Departments of Transportation of Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota formed a consortium to define and develop the next- generation highway maintenance vehicle that would utilize the latest maintenance operational technologies and interface with ITS. Focus groups consisting of each DOTs internal and external customers revealed that while all maintenance operations could benefit from creating this new generation vehicle, ice and snow operations were the most complex and would benefit greatly from improvements in state of the art vehicle navigation systems, onboard computer applications, and enhanced safety systems. This advanced technology highway maintenance vehicle functions as both an operational truck and a mobile data- gathering platform. Sensors mounted on the vehicle record air and roadway surface temperature, roadway surface condition, and roadway surface friction characteristics. Global Positioning System (GPS) technology is used to provide location information. The information will eventually interface with the ITS technology in the Traffic Management and Information Service Provider Centers Subsystems of the National ITS Architecture