Driver opinions on the concept of using passenger vehicles as weather sensors

In 2008, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Board on Enterprise Planning (BEP) established the Committee on Mobile Observations to discuss the application and utilization of mobile weather and road condition data in the context of supporting the weather and transportation communities and how these data could be used to improve safety and mobility across the nation's surface transportation system. The goal of the committee is to articulate a clear vision for mobile data that captures the immense opportunities for these data to improve road weather services and transportation safety. In 2010, the committee created an online survey to poll approximately 5,000 U.S. drivers on their opinions about the concept of using their vehicles as mobile sensors and to obtain preliminary information on their desires for route-specific in-vehicle weather and road condition hazard information. The information will be used to evaluate the receptiveness of drivers to this concept, identify barriers to adoption, and to provide insight into the type of in-vehicle road weather information drivers would utilize to avoid dangerous driving conditions and/or make routing decisions. This presentation will outline results of the survey, including how often drivers obtain weather information from various sources, what weather elements they deem most important to have access to in their vehicle, and their opinions on cost and privacy issues.