Work Zone Mobility and Safety Program
Photo collage: temporary lane closure, road marking installation, cone with mounted warning light, and drum separated work zones.
Office of Operations 21st Century Operations Using 21st Century Technologies

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) & Technology

Forward-looking transportation agencies across the country are using ITS in their major work zones to make travel through and around the work zones safer and more efficient. ITS involves the use of electronics, computers, and communications equipment to collect information, process it, and take appropriate actions. ITS technology can be applied in work zones for:
  • Traffic monitoring and management
  • Providing traveler information
  • Incident management
  • Enhancing safety of both the road user and worker
  • Increasing capacity
  • Enforcement
  • Tracking and evaluation of contract incentives/disincentives (performance-based contracting)
  • Work zone planning

Many ITS applications in work zones serve a combination of the above purposes.

This page provides a number of resources for implementing various types of ITS in work zones:

ITS in Work Zones Case Studies

  • New 09/10/08 Benefits of Using Intelligent Transportation Systems in Work Zones: A Summary Report (FHWA-HOP-08-021) (2008) (HTML, PDF 810KB) - This report describes the results of some quantifiable assessment of the effectiveness of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) in work zones. Five sites participated in the study: I-40 outside Winston-Salem in North Carolina; I-30 between Benton and Little Rock in Arkansas; US-131 in Kalamazoo, Michigan; I-35 in Hillsboro, Texas; and DC-295 in Washington, DC. ITS in work zones is one of the tools in the work zone management toolbox, and the benefits information in this report, as well as the tips and lessons learned, can help other transportation practitioners use this tool effectively.
  • Report: Intelligent Transportation Systems in Work Zones: A Cross-Cutting Study (FHWA-OP-02-025) (2002) (HTML, PDF 2.75MB) - This report is one in a series designed to educate public sector managers about particular ITS technologies. This report examines how transportation departments in Illinois, Michigan, New Mexico, and Arkansas used ITS in their work zones. The four sites used ITS technology to monitor and manage traffic, including providing traveler information and enhancing incident response. Information covered includes why the systems were selected, design and operational characteristics, any issues/lessons learned, and the benefits derived from using the systems. The report also profiles other ITS-related work zone products, systems and techniques.
  • Brochure: Informed Motorists, Fewer Crashes: Using Intelligent Transportation Systems in Work Zones (FHWA-OP-01-043) (2001) (HTML, PDF 38K) - This brochure, one in a series designed to encourage decision makers to invest their own budget resources in ITS, examines the safety and mobility benefits of the use of ITS in work zones. The brochure quotes elected officials and transportation professionals from around the country about the benefits they have experienced from using ITS in work zones.
  • Work Zone Traffic and Incident Management System - Keeping Traffic Moving During Reconstruction of the Big I, a Major Interstate-Interstate Interchange in Albuquerque (FHWA-OP-04-072) (2004) (HTML, PDF 127KB)
  • Work Zone Travel Time System - Reducing Congestion with the Use of a Traffic Management Contract Incentive During the Reconstruction of Arizona State Route 68 (FHWA-HOP-04-032) (2004) (HTML, PDF 283KB)
  • Dynamic Lane Merge System - Reducing Aggressive Driving and Optimizing Throughput at Work Zone Merges in Michigan (FHWA-HOP-04-033) (2004) (HTML, PDF 243KB)
  • Real-Time Work Zone Traffic Control System - Using an Automated Traffic Information System to Reduce Congestion and Improve Safety During Reconstruction of the I-55 Lake Springfield Bridge in Illinois (FHWA-HOP-04-018) (2004) (HTML, PDF 221KB)

Automated Work Zone Information Systems

  • Automated Work Zone Information System Updates Travelers with Real-Time Information on I-15 - In October 2004, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) conducted a "Rapid Rehab" project on a heavily traveled section of Interstate I-15 in Devore, California. In order to rebuild a 2.8 mile stretch of roadway in 18 days, round-the-clock, counter-flow lane operations were performed, a public outreach campaign was undertaken and Automated Work Zone Information System (AWIS) technologies were deployed to limit traffic disruption.
  • Criteria for Portable ATIS in Work Zones: Lane Merge, Travel Time and Speed Advisory Systems, Published 2005 (PDF 775KB) - This study compares and contrasts 16 different portable ATIS devices in 27 separate deployments throughout the United States. The study recommends an 11-step procedure whereby traffic engineers can choose the most appropriate advanced traveler information systems (ATIS) configuration for any given work zone.
  • Evaluation of Work Zone Speed System - The system that was evaluated provides enroute traveler information to advise drivers of traffic speeds in advance of diversion points upstream of a work zone, encouraging them to divert to alternate routes when the work zone is congested.
  • The Concept of a Smart Drum Speed Warning System - Presentation from January 2007 TRB Annual Meeting Human Factors Workshop on Work Zone Safety: Problems and Countermeasures (Including ITS Applications).

Traffic Management Systems

Dynamic Lane Merge Systems - These systems use dynamic electronic signs and other special devices to control vehicle merging at the approach to lane closures.

Speed Management Systems - There are a variety of technologies that can be used to help manage and enforce speed limits in work zones, including Variable Speed Limit (VSL) systems, automated enforcement, radar, and speed advisory systems.

  • Work Zone Speed Management - This site contains information on variable speed limits and other speed management tools.
  • Safe Speeds in Work Zones (HTML, PDF 481KB) - This fact sheet describes work zone speed display technologies that can be used to help manage safe speeds and provides examples of applications of these technologies.
  • Variable Speed Limit Signs Effects on Speed and Speed Variation in Work Zones - This report describes the results of research done to test driver response to variable speed limit technology in a work zone in Utah.
  • The following links are abstracts to papers included in TRB's Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2015. Copies of the papers are available for purchase from TRB.
  • Radar Speed Display - This report describes an evaluation of the effectiveness of radar actuated speed displays in several contexts.
  • D-25 Speed Advisory System - This report describes the evaluation of the D-25 Speed Advisory Sign System, which was intended to warn drivers of stopped or slow-moving traffic ahead and thereby enable them to reduce their speeds and avoid rear-end crashes with these vehicles.
  • Presentations from January 2007 TRB Annual Meeting Human Factors Workshop on Work Zone Safety: Problems and Countermeasures (Including ITS Applications).
  • Variable Speed Limits Used for Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project - Variable Speed Limits will be used between Springfield, Virginia and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge (WWB) on the Capital Beltway in Northern Virginia to help control traffic conditions in the work zone. The operations center for the project will be able to vary the speed limit depending on traffic conditions. The goal of using variable speed limits is to enhance both mobility and safety by keeping traffic moving smoothly and reducing the sudden braking and lane changing that can bring traffic to a halt at a work zone.
    • Virginia DOT Press Release (PDF 48KB)
    • WWB Web Site - Contains information on the VSL and travel information system, including a fact sheet, real-time traffic map, and radio ad for the "Go With the Flow/Stay in the Know" campaign.
  • Washington State DOT Speed Enforcement Cameras Pilot - The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is undertaking a six-month pilot project for the 2008 Construction Season to see how well speed enforcement cameras can slow work zone traffic to improve safety for workers, drivers and their passengers.

Portable Changeable Message Signs (PCMS)

Work Zone ITS Deployment Examples

  • New Jersey I-295 Project - The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) began a major 10.3 mile rehabilitation of I-295 in June 2007. The $77 million project is expected to end in summer 2009. I-295 crosses the Delaware Memorial Bridge to the south, provides access to the New Jersey Turnpike and links Salem, Gloucester, Camden, Burlington and Mercer Counties with Philadelphia and Trenton. On an average day, 68,780 vehicles use I-295.
  • I-93 in Salem, New Hampshire - The New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) has deployed a Smart Work Zone System as part of the Interstate 93 Exit 1 rebuilding project in Salem. The Smart Work Zone consists of changeable message signs that provide information to motorists as they travel through the work zone, traffic sensors that measure vehicle volumes and speed, and a mounted camera that provides images of traffic through the construction corridor. Motorists will be able check travel conditions in the work zone via the Internet and will receive vital incident or road construction information through changeable message signs strategically located within three miles north and south of the project area.
  • I-295 in Washington, DC - The DC Department of Transportation (DDOT) is using a Smart Work Zone System to provide real-time traffic information during construction on I-295 in Washington, DC. Motorists can use the Internet to find real time travel conditions in the work zone, which is occurring in an area that is already highly congested on a regular basis.

Additional Work Zone ITS Resources

General ITS Resources

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