INFORMED MOTORISTS,
FEWER CRASHES
Making Work Zones Work Better Through ITS
FEWER CRASHES
PDF Version 38KB
Tackling Work Zone Mobility and Safety Issues with ITS
“ITS has been a very essential and integral part of the ‘Big I’ construction project.”
—Rhonda Faught, Adjutant Secretary, New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department
“During construction projects, it is important to provide the most up-to-date information to motorists. By allowing the average citizen to access ITS technology through a video network, roadside kiosks and the World Wide Web, Michigan is allowing the daily commuter to make informed, educated choices regarding his or her travel plans.”
—Terry L. Anderson, Manager, Lansing Transportation Service Center
These are a few testimonials from forward-looking transportation agencies across the country that are using Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), in the form of mobile traffic monitoring and management systems, to make their work zones work better. These systems use electronics and communications equipment to monitor traffic flow and provide delay and routing information to drivers and highway agency personnel. Potential benefits of using ITS in work zones include:
- Better informed customers (i.e., the traveling public)
- Improved mobility
- Improved safety
- Reduced speeding violations
- Better coordination with other agencies
ITS Receives Praise from the Public and the Public Safety Sector
The New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department is using a mobile traffic monitoring and management system for their “Big I” reconstruction project in Albuquerque.
“There are many positive benefits coming from using ITS at the ‘Big I’. The volume of traffic through that interchange is high. I do not think we could have maintained the traffic flow we have had through the ‘Big I’ without ITS,” said New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department Adjutant Secretary Rhonda Faught. “We have received scores of thank you letters and emails from the public. Our colleagues in the public safety sector have been generous in their praise of our ITS activities. We are able to contact them immediately and they can respond immediately to incidents. It has really worked out well.”
ITS Minimizes the Impact of a Full Road Closure
The use of a mobile traffic monitoring system on a full closure of I-496 in Lansing helped the Michigan Department of Transportation to:
- Reduce construction time from two seasons to one
- Quickly identify and respond to incidents, thereby minimizing the impact on traffic
- Provide real-time information on problem areas to travelers
- Communicate more effectively with local agencies
ITS Improves Communication – Both with the Public and between Project Stakeholders
The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department used an automated traffic management system in an I-40 reconstruction project to:
- Provide traffic information at strategic locations where travelers could decide to take alternate routes
- Inform travelers of backups ahead, thereby decreasing the likelihood of rear-end crashes and driver frustration
- Lessen the impact of the work zone on neighboring Memphis, Tennessee
- Better detect and respond to incidents
- Better understand when peak travel periods occur to avoid having the con-tractor on the road during those times, thereby reducing delays
“The I-496 construction is an essential part of improving the future mobility of our transportation network in Lansing. The use of ITS during construction has helped minimize the impacts on our citizens while we look to the future.”—David C. Hollister, Mayor of the City of Lansing, Michigan
ITS Reduces Speeding in Addition to Minimizing Backups
The Illinois Department of Transportation is using a portable traffic monitoring and information dissemination system to support bridge reconstruction activities on a busy section of I-55 near Springfield, Illinois. Benefits of using the system have included:
- No significant backups
- A reduced rate of traffic citations in the work zone (dynamic information on the number of citations issued to date is posted upstream of the work zone)
- Only two crashes in the work zone over the first five months – one attributed to fatigue and the other to alcohol
“This is just the beginning of ITS in Arkansas. Our limited use of ITS in the work zone has already helped us identify other areas of our activities where the public could benefit from further ITS deployment.” —Robert L. Walters, Chief Engineer, Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department
“Since the Real-Time Traffic Control System has been in place on I-55 there have been no significant traffic backups during reconstruction of the bridge spanning Lake Springfield – thereby improving safety and mobility for the traveling public.”—James Slifer, Director, Division of Highways, State of Illinois
For more information on the use of ITS in Work Zones,
please see Intelligent Transportation Systems in Work Zones – A Cross-Cutting Study, which will be available in Spring 2002.
U.S. Department of Transportation
ITS Joint Program Office and
FHWA Work Zone Team
Room 3401, HOTO-1
400 7th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590
Phone: (202) 366-4010
Facsimile: (202) 366-3255
Visit our websites at www.its.dot.gov and www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/wz/workzone.htm
Call the Operations/ITS HelpLine toll-free (866) 367-7487
Cover photo compliments of Prahlad Pant, Ph.D.
EDL# 13584 FHWA-OP-01-043