Vermont Transportation Energy Profile 2021

Slightly more than one-third of the total energy consumed in Vermont is used for transportation (see Figure E-1). Transportation energy is overwhelmingly derived from fossil fuels, with over 95% coming in the form of gasoline and diesel fuel. Transportation is also the largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the State, accounting for 39.1% GHGs in 2017. Consequently, the 2016 Vermont Comprehensive Energy Plan (CEP) included three goals and nine supporting objectives related to reducing transportation sector energy consumption and GHG emissions (VDPS, 2016). The 2021 Vermont Transportation Energy Profile (“the Profile”) is the fifth installment of a biannual reporting series that evaluates the State’s progress toward achieving these transportation sector targets

Emergency Operations Methodology for Extreme Winter Storm Events

Winter storms have increased in frequency and intensity since the 1950s, and average annual precipitation is projected to continue to increase across the northern United States. In response to these trends, many states have developed, or are interested in developing, emergency-response plans for extreme winter storm events. This report provides a series of six emergency response plan case studies as well as a synthesis of best practices related to emergency-response planning for extreme winter weather. It is intended to provide a blueprint for transportation agencies seeking to develop or improve their own extreme winter weather emergency-response plans, including how to coordinate an effective response across multiple agencies and jurisdictions

Snow and Ice Control Performance Measurement: Comparing Grip, Traffic Speed Distributions and Safety Outcomes During Winter Storms

Effective performance measurement provides benchmarking for transportation agencies to promote transparency, accountability, cost-effectiveness, and process improvement. Vaisala’s proprietary “Grip measure provides an imputed measure of the condition of the road surface (Jensen et al., 2014). VTrans’ Average Distribution Deviation (ADD) measures changes in the distribution of vehicle speeds during and after winter weather events (Sullivan et al., 2016). The algorithm for the calculation of Grip was reverseengineered from Road Weather Information System (RWIS) data over the winters of 2016-2017 and 2017-2018. The resulting algorithm is consistent with research connecting snow, water and ice layer thicknesses to skidding friction. ADD and Grip were found to be relatively poorly correlated, indicating that each measure is independently useful and one cannot be used as a proxy for the other. In fact, the exploration revealed that instances when ADD and Grip diverge maybe especially useful for signaling high-risk situations, or situations when the traveling public is not correctly perceiving the road surface conditions. Finally, a review of winter storm and season severity indices concluded that the precipitation-based Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index was appropriate for use in Vermont because it was well calibrated, captured key factors influencing winter maintenance activities and calculated from data that are readily available across the state

Synthesis of Technical Requirements and Considerations for Automated Snowplow Route Optimization: Final Report

DOTs and other transportation agencies are increasingly using automated methods for snowplow route optimization, which have been demonstrated to produce significant savings when they result in the implementation of new routes. However, many route optimization projects have fallen short of implementation due to technical/operational issues with the routes produced or institutional barriers to change. These shortcomings can be substantially mitigated with improvements to the process of soliciting, selecting, and managing the route optimization software or service provider. This project’s objective was to provide DOTs with the tools needed to make these improvements. The key lessons from this project are provided in two complementary documents: a Decision Support Guidance document and a Contracting Language Template. The Decision Support Guidance provides DOT staff with an accessible and in-depth discussion of the technical requirements for route optimization and the key decisions DOTs should consider when developing the project scope and managing a provider. The Contracting Language Template provides DOTs with a flexible template to assist with the development of a scope of work for a Request for Proposals (RFP) for automated snowplow route optimization services. The language suggested in the Contracting document is intended to ensure that DOTs and service providers have a shared understanding of the scope of work that the DOT requires and to maximize the likelihood that the project will result in safe, feasible, implementation-ready routes

Who Do We Miss by Moving Travel Surveys Online? –Assessments from Vermont

Online travel surveys are increasingly common because of cost, user burden, and geocoding advantages. Consequently, it is important to ask how online survey samples compare to paper survey samples. This study compares paper and online responses to a 2016, state wide, Vermont transportation planning survey. Internet and smartphone access were analyzed by socioeconomic characteristics as well as by residential location to assess rural coverage. Respondents’ selection of the paper option was linked to lower population density. Online respondents showed significant spatial clustering. Crucially, the travel behavior and transportation attitudes of paper and online respondents differed even after weighting for demographic attributes. Smartphone ownership in Vermont is too skewed by age to be a primary travel survey method. Internet access is more widespread but does exclude some population segments. We recommend consideration of respondents by geographic location as well as socioeconomic characteristics when selecting survey mode and weighting, especially for state-wide surveys

Challenges and Opportunities for Integrating Climate Adaptation Efforts across State, Regional and Local Transportation Agencies

To address the challenges posed by climate change to the transportation system, agencies are investigating climate change adaptation measures. This white paper presents a five-step framework for adapting transportation systems: inventorying and monitoring transportation assets; assessing climate threats; evaluating the vulnerability of assets; prioritizing assets; and identifying and executing adaptation actions. This framework provides a basis for further discussion and implementation. Collaboration among agencies at all levels is critical to successful adaptation efforts

Quantifying Correlations Between Winter Severity, Road Conditions, and VTrans\u27 Snow and Ice Control Activities: Final Report

Season-to-season variability in winter weather and the absence of quantifiable methods for measuring either winter severity or snow and ice control (SIC) performance have made planning and budgeting for SIC activities challenging. Recent research initiatives undertaken by VTrans and other snowbelt DOTs have established objective measures for weather severity and SIC effectiveness, creating the opportunity to quantify the relationships among winter severity, SIC costs, and SIC performance. For this project, the research team utilized these recently established severity measures and VTrans SIC cost data from the MATS database to develop a cost estimation tool that projects expected SIC costs for user-specified winter severity levels. This tool will support VTrans in making data-driven decisions about appropriate levels of investment in SIC for a given winter forecast and potentially improve SIC performance management by comparing current cost-effectiveness to that seen in the historical data. The algorithm used in the tool was based on the strong correlations between SIC costs and AWSSI at the Snow Region level. The tool can be used to estimate SIC cost statewide, regionally, by maintenance district, or by individual VTrans garage. To generate the cost estimates, the tool simulates 10,000 winter seasons matching the user\u27s specification and calculates SIC costs for each simulation