Finland
Road Weather Service System in Finland and Savings in Driving Costs
Summary Information
The Finnish National Road Administration has developed a road weather service system, for both road maintenance personnel and road users, with the primary objective being to improve the monitoring of road weather conditions so that winter maintenance can be carried out systematically and at the right time. The system is an automated information system that sends actual and forecast weather and road surface information to those responsible for road maintenance. It consists of 11 central stations, about 200 workstations, and about 150 observation stations.
FINDINGS
The duration of slippery road condition has been estimated to shorten 10-30 minutes per de-icing activity, which decreases the chance for accidents caused by slipperiness. Traffic will improve because of better road conditions, in turn benefiting driving time, fuel, and the environment. The estimated average time saved was 23 minutes per de-icing activity.
