American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials

Special Committee on Research and Innovation

FY2023 NCHRP PROBLEM STATEMENT TEMPLATE

Problem Number: 2023-G-24

Problem Title

Using Advanced Technologies to Reduce Commercial Motor Vehicle Crashes in Work Zones

Background Information and Need For Research

Commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) have been overrepresented in work zone fatal crashes for many years. While CMVs have typically been involved in approximately 13 percent of overall fatal crashes nationally outside of work zones, they have been involved in about 32 percent of fatal crashes in work zones. The issue is even more significant on rural interstate facilities, where nearly 56 percent of fatal work zone crashes involve a CMV. Work zones can also create significant congestion and advanced technologies can help CMV drivers avoid these congestion locations as well. Several agencies of the USDOT (FHWA, FMCSA, and NHTSA) have joined forces to work with other stakeholders across the country to improve CMV safety in work zones.

Agencies, contractors, and even CMV operators themselves continue to look for ways to reduce CMV-involved work zone crashes. Opportunities exist to apply advanced technologies to better warn and inform CMV drivers in real-time about work zones they are approaching (through electronic driver logging or other in-cab devices) so that they can be better prepared to take appropriate actions. Opportunities also exist to utilize technologies to help drivers of personal vehicles as well as highway workers better anticipate and accommodate CMVs operating in work zones. Research is needed to identify those technology opportunities, develop and/or enhance the functionalities of those opportunities, and implement and test those technologies under real-world condition to evaluate their effectiveness.

Literature Search Summary

Navigational apps (WAZE, HERE, those developed by state DOTs, etc.) are widely available that can provide real-time visual and auditory alerts about road conditions being approached by motorists via smart phones. Meanwhile, developers and providers of CMV in-cab communication technologies are working with state DOTs to develop and implement systems to provide warnings of various types of roadway hazards to drivers. For example, the North Carolina DOT is working with Drivewyze and INRIX to provide real-time in-cab alerts based on current travel time and speed information. Geo-fences around hazard locations will be established and CMVs entering into those geo-fenced areas will automatically receive those alerts. Work zones is one of the hazards they are pursuing to include in the project. See

https://www.ccjdigital.com/technology/article/15065689/north-carolina-testing-incab-traffic-alerts-for-truckers.

However, the work zone information provided by such apps is often general in nature and not conducive to significantly improving CMV driver abilities to negotiate the work zone. Work is underway to develop and refine methods of digitally defining critical work zone features and elements through ongoing Work Zone Data Exchange specification development (https://github.com/usdot-jpo-ode/wzdx). The Georgia DOT is working to develop CMV safety alerts using the Work Zone Data Exchange (WZDx) specification. In addition, the ability to use the data specification to convey information to CMV drivers was recently demonstrated in Arizona (see https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop20022/fhwahop20022.pdf). A study in Texas is also examining opportunities and potential pathways for getting interstate work zone as well as current traffic conditions in and around those work zones to freight carriers. Similar research is needed to explore opportunities for providing this type of information to CMVs on other types of facilities, to evaluate the effects of these efforts upon safety and mobility via case studies, and to disseminate the results of those evaluations and lessons learned to practitioners.

Smart work zone (SWZ) technologies are now available that are designed to detect when construction-related CMV (or other vehicles) are exiting the work space and providing warning to motorists upstream of the work zone so that they can change lanes or otherwise prepare for the vehicle entering at a slower speed (see https://www.jtitraffic.com/our-products/saws-warning-system/ as an example). Similar type systems are possible to warn when CMVs are slowing to enter into a work space. Although implemented on a few projects nationally, such systems have yet to be rigorously evaluated in terms of their ability to improve safety and reduce CMV-involved crashes in work zones.

Research Objective

The objectives of this research are as follows:

• Identify available advanced technologies to mitigate CMV crashes in work zones and prioritize them in terms of their implementation readiness, support systems and stakeholder collaboration required (e.g., data integration processes between traffic management and freight management systems), and expected effectiveness.

• Work with at least two state DOTs to implement one or more of the high-priority technologies in one or more work zones for case study evaluations.

• Conduct studies to evaluate the quality of the deployments and their effectiveness.

• Document the case studies in terms of efforts required, effectiveness of the deployments, lessons learned, and recommendations for future deployments.

Urgency and Potential Benefits

The extent to which CMVs are overrepresented in fatal work zone crashes makes this research a high-priority need. State departments of transportation where CMV work zone crashes occur frequently are highly interested in the potential benefits of providing useful warnings and information in-cab to CMV drivers. In addition to reducing CMV crashes, improved warning and information can yield significant mobility benefits by allow CMV drivers to adjust their routes and avoid congested work zones completely.

Implementation Considerations

Collaboration with developers and vendors of these type of advanced technologies will be needed to successfully accomplish this project.

Recommended Research Funding and Research Period

$500,000 – 2 years

Problem Statement Author(S): For each author, provide their name, affiliation, email address and phone.

Martha C. Kapitanov

Transportation Specialist

Office of Operations-Work Zone Management

Federal Highway Administration

(202) 695-0736

martha.kapitanov@dot.gov

Taft Kelly, Regional Field Administrator

Eastern Service Center

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

31 Hopkins Plaza, Suite 800 | Baltimore, MD 21201

P: (443) 703-2265 | M: (301) 875-7389 | F: (443) 703-2253

Taft.Kelly@dot.gov

Andrew J. Heath, P.E.

State Traffic Engineer

Georgia Department of Transportation

(404) 635-2828

aheath@dot.ga.gov

Faisal Saleem

ITS Branch Manager

Maricopa County Department of Transportation

2901 W. Durango Street ▪ Phoenix, AZ 85009

O: 602.506.1241 ▪ C: 602.723.6766

Faisal.Saleem@Maricopa.Gov

Bruce Martin

Work Zone Safety Engineer

Virginia Department of Transportation

804-643-1384

bruce.martin@VDOT.Virginia.gov

Potential Panel Members: For Each Panel Member, Provide Their Name, Affiliation, Email Address And Phone.

Kelly E. Wells, P.E.

State Traveler Information Engineer

Transportation Mobility and Safety Division

North Carolina Department of Transportation

(919) 825-2615