ATSSA Signal September October 2019

American Traffic Safety Services Association 20 Work Zone Data Exchange improves roadway safety Initiative aims to equip roadway operators with tools to share specification information Innovation & New Programs It has been about a year and a half since the U.S. Department of Transpor- tation (U.S. DOT) Intelligent Transporta- tion Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) and the Federal Highway Adminis- tration (FHWA) launched theWork Zone Data Exchange (WZDx) project, which is featured in the department’s “Preparing for the Future of Transportation: Auto- mated Vehicles 3.0 (AV 3.0).” The programwas inspiredby theGeneral Transit Feed Specification (GTFS), which is a data specification that allows public transit agencies to share transit data in a format that can be consumed by a wide variety of software applications, such as real-time tracking apps. One important feature of GTFS is that it offers a stan- dardized format in which transit data elements are shared. Taking that model, theU.S. DOT published “Version 1.1 (v1.1) Common Core Data Specification,” a specification reference document that allows data producers to to share work zone data elements in the same format. According to Ariel Gold, data program manager of the ITS JPO, the project aims to make travel on public roads safer and more efficient by providing easy access to data on work zone activ- ity online. Adding that real-time infor- mation about conditions occurring on roads—such as construction events— can help Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) and the driver behind the wheel. “Needing access to authoritative data on work zones is one of the first and clearest priorities that we’ve identified through this initiative,” Gold said. “Access towork zone data can improve safety and effi- ciency of automated vehicles and, in fact, human drivers as well.” Additionally, Gold said the problem is not that the information is not there— the problem is a lack of data uniformity and access. “Weknowmany IndependentOwnerOper- ators and state and local government agencies maintain data on work zone activity,” Gold said. “However, we have found that a lack of common data stan- dards and conveningmechanismsmakes it difficult and costly for third parties … to access and use these data sets across various jurisdictions.” Gold said the project also places a heavy emphasis on the relationshipwork zones will havewithConnected andAutomated Vehicles (CAVs) but at its core, WZDx is about information sharing. “Part of this initiative was to ensure work zone technology advances with CAV systems,” Gold said. “However, anequally important goal of this program is to increase uniformity of work zone set up and share best practices in a standard- ized format.” Todd Peterson, project manager of the broader Work Zone Data Initiative, said projects like WDZx will become increas- ingly important with the uptick of CAVs on U.S. roadways in recent years. “As you can imagine, having good consis- tentbroadlyavailable informationonwork zone activity is crucial to supporting auto- mated vehicle integrationonour nation’s highways,” Peterson said.  For more information about the WDZx project, visit bit.ly/2KmsUJ9. Access towork zonedata can improve safety andefficiency of automated vehicles and, in fact, humandrivers aswell.