Smart Work Zone Traffic Management System: An ITS Operational Test

Perhaps the two most important user costs which exist in todays work zone are safety and efficiency. While statistics document that highways are improving in the area of safety, accident rates and fatalities in the work zone have remained relatively constant since 1980. Transportation efficiency can also suffer in work zones, causing countless hours of lost time. With these two reasons in mind, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has initiated the Smart Work Zone Portable Traffic Management System project. The project is currently examining the functionality of a portable traffic management system in a construction work zone environment. The basis of the system is the compilation of real-time traffic data from the work zone and the surrounding roadway system, and the transmission of that data through the work zone and to a traffic control center. This is accomplished by strategically locating vehicle detection and surveillance devices, such as machine vision, video camera units and radar detection, in the work zone and linking this equipment together using wireless technology. After the incoming data is analyzed, real time messages are communicated to the motorist via variable message signs. The traffic data is also made available to users of the InterNet, allowing for the traveling public to plan their routes according to the existing traffic characteristics. The project is an integration of both existing and newly created technologies into a comprehensive portable traffic management system.