Response to Request for Comment from National Telecommunications and Information Administration (Department of Commerce):

All-Hazard Warning - Comment, Docket No. 000609173-0173-01

From: Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation
Operations Core Business Unit (HOP)
400 7^th Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20590

Introduction:

The public's demand for a safe and efficient surface transportation system has fostered an aggressive program to apply technologies that optimize the performance of this system. This program is called intelligent transportation systems (ITS), and over the past 15 years federal, state and local departments of transportation, and private industry have invested significant amounts of time and money in its development, testing, and deployment. Information and its management are at the heart of ITS, supporting a wide range of services. Most notable with respect to "All-Hazard Warnings" are traveler information (i.e., alerting drivers to congestion, crashes, work zones, etc.), road weather information (i.e., conveying weather-related warnings and road condition information to all road users and operators) , and emergency management (i.e., responding to major incidents such as crashes, flooding, and hurricanes, and effectively managing the traffic affected by these incidents).

The information infrastructure needed to support these services can be very complex, therefore the greatest benefits in terms of safety, efficiency, and costs are realized when electronic systems are integrated to enable information sharing. In this regard, the ITS community has developed a number of communications standards and other system requirements to ensure interoperability. Consequently, it is our belief that the Department of Commerce's interest in fostering new and innovative methods of bringing warning messages to the public goes hand in hand with the significant communications investments and other technology applications already in place. Therefore, the Department of Transportation, and specifically the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), wishes to work with the Department of Commerce as it pursues this objective since both departments share the common goals of safety and saving lives.

Responses to Specific Questions from Request for Information:

1. Is it technologically feasible today to deliver hazard warnings: to wireless devices, such as cell phones and pagers; over the Internet to users who are online; to standard telephones in the form of a call warning; to broadcast television; to satellite services; to cable television; and to emerging and developing technologies?

As has been noted in other comments, all these options can be implemented with today's technology. The challenges arise from the institutional coordination that must take place in order to allow development of standard messages, standard delivery techniques, and various technology standards to enable easy information exchange between multiple acquisition (i.e., resources) and delivery (i.e., user) systems. The FHWA and the ITS Joint Program Office have conducted numerous field operational tests related to providing traveler information to consumers. These tests have included in-vehicle devices, hand held computers, pagers, cellular telephones, and the Internet. While there were technology challenges to overcome, often it was establishing the necessary successful relationships among the sources of information and the delivery services that resulted in successful tests.

2. What are the tradeoffs among technology options?

These technology options have differing economic and resource requirements from the delivery methods to the users' receiving devices. However, as hazard warning systems are designed, they should allow for the maximum flexibility in delivery methods and techniques. By adopting standard methods of formatting information and standard telecommunications interfaces, systems should be robust enough to adapt to any information delivery mechanism. The ITS program has fostered and developed a number of standards to enable integrated communication among various transportation systems and information providers. Some of the standards that may be most applicable to "All-Hazard Warnings" are a Data Dictionary for Advanced Traveler Information Systems or ATIS (SAE J2353), a Message Set for ATIS (SAE J2354), a Standard for ATIS Message Sets Delivered Over Bandwidth Restricted Media (SAE J2369), and a Standard for Common Incident Management Message Sets for use by Emergency Management Centers (IEEE Std 1512-2000). Information on these standards and the entire ITS program is available at the http://www.its.dot.gov website.

3. What are the economic impediments, if any, to the use of any of the technologies that might be used to disseminate hazard warnings?

The FHWA has discovered through evaluations of ITS operational tests and model deployments that, in general, traveler information services by themselves must be subsidized by external resources to be successful. Some of the methods that have been used include bundling traveler information with other types of user selected information (e.g., news, stocks, weather) to entice greater consumer interest, and providing advertising along with traveler information. Hazard warning systems, perhaps like 911, will have to be subsidized through some form of user fees, either directly or indirectly.

4. What are the legal impediments, if any, to the use of any of the technologies that might be used to disseminate hazard warnings?

Transportation agencies have been faced with liability challenges related to warning signs along the roadways, including the locations, readability, and accuracy of information on the signs. Similar legal challenges may arise from hazard warning systems, as well as challenges related to the non-delivery of messages. For example, the existence of a hazard warning system for one specific location may permit legal challenges for the lack of hazard warning systems at other locations where injuries or damages occur. By adopting common, consensus standards for displaying information, such as the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the FHWA has provided state and local transportation agencies guidance and direction to help address liability issues.

5. What legal measures, if any, should be taken to foster the delivery of hazard warnings?

It is not clear that any legal measures must be undertaken, however as noted above, there are precedents in the public sector for liability issues related to providing hazard warnings to the traveling public. Similarly, there are safety concerns related to presenting information to operators of vehicles while they are in motion and possible distraction or information overload.

6. What economic and technological policy measures, if any, should be taken to foster the dissemination of hazard warnings?

The ITS program fosters cooperative, coordinated planning efforts among the many entities that have a stake in providing transportation services or ensuring their safe delivery. Based upon statutory language contained in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21^st Century (Section 5206(e), Public Law 105-178), the Department of Transportation is implementing policies and regulations to ensure ITS projects conform to the National ITS Architecture. The basic premise underlying the policies and regulations is the need to bring stakeholders together to identify where information needs to be exchanged to address their common transportation demands, and developing system architectures based on the National ITS Architecture to fit their transportation needs. A significant element of the regulations proposed to date seeks to leverage the current, collaborative transportation planning processes in the states and metropolitan areas to include examining the opportunities for using technology to address transportation needs. An "All-Hazard Warning" system might investigate similar opportunities to leverage existing safety and transportation planning processes.