Work Zone Intelligent Transportation Systems Implementation Guide: Use of Technology and Data for Effective Work Zone Management

ITS is the use of a broad range of communications-based information and electronics technologies to enhance transportation. Work zone ITS is the use of ITS to enhance transportation and improve safety and mobility in and around work zones. A work zone ITS deployment can be focused around safety or mobility, but often supports both goals, and can also enhance productivity. The systems are portable and temporary in most cases, although some deployments may use either existing fixed infrastructure or become a permanent system.

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance on implementing ITS in work zones to assist public agencies, design and construction firms, and industry, including developers, manufacturers, distributors, packagers, and providers of devices, systems, and programs. Work zone ITS is one possible operational strategy of many potential solutions that an agency can include in a transportation management plan (TMP). This document summarizes key steps for successfully implementing ITS in work zones, using a systematic approach to provide a technical solution that accomplishes a specific set of clearly defined objectives. The document illustrates how a systems engineering process should be applied to determine the feasibility and design of work zone ITS for a given application, regardless of its scale, by walking through the key phases, from project concept through operation. These steps include assessment of needs; concept development and feasibility; detailed system planning and design; procurement; system deployment; and system operation, maintenance, and evaluation.