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

Text from 'Safer Work Zones Through ITS' PowerPoint Presentation

Slide 1

Safer Work Zones Through ITS

Interim Traffic Management System

Florida Department of Transportation

Tahira Faquir

Slide 2

The Problem

  • Eight year construction of I-95 (extending for 46 miles)
  • I-95 experiences substantial peak hours congestion
  • No existing Interstate traffic management system

Speaker Notes: Given the above conditions the situation is prime for major safety problems work zone or no work zone.

Slide 3

Solution Criteria: The Management System

  • Rapidly deployable
  • Mobile and reconfigurable with little effort
  • Supports development of safety Measures of Effectiveness
  • Supports assessment of work zone/non-work zone safety

Speaker Notes: The first two criteria address the needs related specifically to a work zone environment. The second two criteria address one of the main expected benefits, specifically, improved safety and evaluation of safety improvements.

Slide 4

Solution Composition

  • Traffic Management
  • Maintenance of Traffic
  • Information System

Speaker Notes: These are the three main components of the system which make up ITMS

Slide 5

Description of Components

Traffic Management

  • Function - Dissemination of information to the traveling public

Maintenance of Traffic

  • Function - Enhancement of existing MOT, Real Time Construction Information

Speaker Notes: Traffic Management function includes general ITS function of information dissemination to traveling public

Maintenance of Traffic function includes enhancing existing MOT and adding real-time information about conditions in Construction zones

Slide 6

Description of Components

Information System

  • Function - Capture and recording of data
  • Main Equipment
  • Smart Zones
  • Trailered Dynamic Message Signs
  • Pole Mounted Dynamic Message Signs
  • Traffic Management Office
  • Website
  • Incident Tracking Database

Speaker Notes: Information System function includes archiving of historical data related to the work zone such as speed and incidents as well as populating a database to track incident duration and response times. Main equipment used for this are.... Website will provide real-time information although CCTV images will be only updated every few minutes. Tracking Database is a record keeping method to show historical change in response time and incident duration. This will be used in evaluation ITMS

Slide 7

System Overview

Diagram: The systems that make up the Traffic Management Office include: Traffic Management Component, Existing Maintenance of Traffic, FHP, Construction, Road Rangers, Signal System, and the Incident Tracking Database.

Speaker Notes: Due to the integrated nature of the system the Traffic Management Office will function with input from various agencies/partners and output to those same partners as need. Allows for better communication coordination and detection of incidents

Slide 8

Safety Impacts (Goals)

Chart:

System Component Work Zone Non-Work Zone (Interstate) Non-Work Zone (Arterial)
Traffic Management System Reduced secondary accidents, reduced incident response times, incident information dissemination Incident information dissemination, accident reduction, advanced warning of conditions in work zones Advanced warning of conditions on the Interstate, Construction information
Maintenance of Traffic Real-time construction information in advance of work zones, reduction of construction related accidents Not applicable Not applicable
Information System Incident time recording and dissemination Incident time recording and dissemination Incident time recording and dissemination

Speaker Notes: These are the proposed goals related to ITMS. The overall goal of ITMS is to reduce congestion and provide information to the public in order to reduce incidents and meet the Departments mission (part of it) of providing a safe transportation system that ensures the mobility of people and good

Slide 9

Evaluation

Elements

  • Assessment of Public's view on effectiveness of system
  • Assessment of partner agencies perception of ITMS
  • Assessment of decision-maker's perception of ITMS
  • Assessment of ITMS's operational effectiveness
    • Effects of ITMS on travel delay during construction
    • Effects of ITMS on crash occurrence during construction and on incident response time

Speaker Notes: The evaluation portion of ITMS is one of the most critical in that it will tell us not only where we have succeeded but also where we have fallen short of our goals. The evaluation is not a one time effort but will be ongoing through out the life of the project allowing us to react to initial results and improve the system accordingly.

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