The Pathfinder project was a joint National Weather Service (NWS) and Federal Highways Administration (FHWA) initiated in 2014 as a pilot project across four western States (California, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming) to document and strengthen current state Department of Transportation (DOT) interactions and working relationships with the weather enterprise. 

Just over 10 years later, this seed has grown into a forest with trees rooted from multiple disciplines. The purpose of this session is to build upon the dense network of those working in PATHFINDER related research, forecasting, social sciences and economics. All of us need each other to reach a common goal; the dissemination of a consistent, unified message across the weather enterprise, regarding road weather impacts, which motivates proactive decisions by motorists and the decision makers tasked with their safety, especially those in underrepresented communities. We need to do our part, contributing to the larger effort to reduce the impacts of the numerous billion dollar weather disasters, which are becoming more frequent.

Probabilistic messaging and tools will enhance risk communication through cost/loss modeling and objectively  show the tremendous economic value of our efforts to all levels of government and the taxpayer. This endeavor opens many economic opportunities for the private sector to deploy advanced technologies at a much faster rate than many other entities. 

The FHWA’s  Road Weather Management Program (RWMP) has recognized and sponsored research into this intersection of weather and transportation systems management and operations (TSMO) for more than 20 years. Integrated Modeling for Road Condition Prediction (IMRCP) is intended to provide data and decision support for these kinds of events.  This session will serve to unite and shine a light on current research (related to economics/social sciences and operations) and forecasting (related to modeling and NWS/DOT/FHWA interactions) in a unique opportunity to meet eye-to-eye.