Beginning in the late 1950s the theoretical concepts of decision support systems were introduced in management science. Since this time the role of decision support systems has continually grown predominantly in information science and business management. With a growing awareness of the role decision support systems can play within both meteorology and transportation maintenance operations, a movement has developed to establish sophisticated decision support systems in these disciplines to improve operational decision making.

This paper presents a perspective of the role of decision support systems within a meteorological and a surface transportation winter maintenance operations environment and the similarities and differences between these systems. The potential linkage between these decision support systems is discussed in the context of how an effective maintenance decision support system can work in a rural state. The challenges of designing, developing and maintaining an effective decision support system are addressed.