New Online Calculator Helps Cities and Counties See
For the first time, local road authorities now have access to a free online tool that allows them to evaluate their potential cost and community savings to using road weather information systems or road decision support systems.
Developed and offered by Vaisala, the RoadDSS Value Calculator asks 12 questions about road maintenance operations. Once the user has input infrastructure and cost information, the calculator uses embedded algorithms to produce calculated savings based on referenced study findings. The report provides a breakdown of all direct and indirect cost savings, including safety aspects (such as potential accident reductions) and environmental aspects (such as carbon and other pollutant reductions).
A user can adjust any of the information they've input into the calculator to better tailor their end report.
"At a time when cities and counties are faced with ongoing budget cuts, they need concrete proof that decision support and road weather tools are effective and can help them reduce their costs," said Antero Jarvinen, Segment Director, Vaisala Roads. "In the end, these systems can help them save money and reduce accidents or fatalities, and this calculator lets each user see the specific impact they can have on their own operations and community."
Vaisala worked with several industry-leading agencies to create the calculator's logic processes. "There has been an explosion of technologies for winter road maintenance in the last ten years that can save agencies money and resources," said Mark DeVries, Maintenance Superintendent for McHenry County, Illinois, United States. "Being able to provide estimates of cost savings before deploying such technology could prove effective when obtaining funding and justification for such needed tools."
Vaisala will release the latest version of its RoadDSS Suite this fall.
More information:
Jon Tarleton, Vaisala Roads Marketing Manager,
Tel. +1 314 872 0509, jon.tarleton@vaisala.com
Helena Marjaranta, Vaisala Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications,
Tel. +1 303 262 4050, helena.marjaranta@vaisala.com
About Vaisala
Vaisala is a global leader in environmental and industrial measurement. Building on 75 years of experience, Vaisala contributes to a better quality of life by providing a comprehensive range of innovative observation and measurement products and services for meteorology, weather critical operations and controlled environments. Headquartered in Finland, Vaisala employs over 1300 professionals worldwide and is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.
www.vaisala.com
