ATSSA Signal May June 2020

The Signal | May/June 2020 25 Innovation smart arrowboardshelpcreateadetailed virtual pictureof aworkzone that canhelp DOTs manage and track their work zone deployments and can help connected vehicles make adjustments that can ulti - mately save lives. “We look at it as an entire package,” said ToddFoster, vicepresident of ITSengineer - ing for Ver-Mac. “Most DOTs are telling us they want to have this ability yesterday.” Thankstodevelopmentsatthefederallevel that have created a uniform protocol for makingwork zonedataavailable for third- party use, smart work zone technology is on the cuspof broaddeployment inmany states, Foster said. NorthCarolinaisinthepreliminarystagesof broaddeployment,andIowahasannounced that all construction projects in the 2021 fiscal yearwill requireasmart arrowboard. While many other companies offer this product, Foster saidseveral featuresdistin - guish Ver-Mac’s system of making smart arrow boards part of a broader network of connectedwork zone infrastructure. Ver-Mac’s arrow boards have the capabil - ity to transmit a granular level of data to infrastructure owners and third parties, including auto-populationof thenameof the road thearrowboard ispositionedon, precise location information, thedirection the sign is facing, which side of the road it wason, and theexact time itwas installed. Whilemany other arrowboards rely on a scheduled “pulling” of information up to thecloud,say,everyfiveminutes,Ver-Mac’s arrow boards “push” new information to the cloud as it occurs. This means information about an arrow board installation isuploadedthemoment the worker puts out the sign. Ver-Mac’s systemretainshistorical dataonall events, so that DOTs can go back and track how theirworkzonesweredeployed,orwhether a signwas placed incorrectly. This system alsogivesDOTsamanageableway to track thestatusofalltheirworkzonesinrealtime. SensorsintheVer-Macsystemcantransmit information on traffic times, delays, alter - nate route suggestions andmore, helping driversandeventuallyautomatedvehicles makeadjustmentsthatwillpreventbackups, rear-end crashes and threats toworkers. Foster expects thismarket togrowrapidly in the coming years and said Ver-Mac will be adding new products with new capa - bilities to its work zone lineup. Ver-Machasbeenactiveinsmartworkzone technology for more than 20 years and worked with the Minnesota Department of Transportation to set up the country’s first smart work zone in 1999. “We have been in this market, we believe in it, andweunderstand that hardware is one part, but the software and the inter - action with these devices and the interac - tion of the agencies is key,” he said. “We are committed to saving lives andmoving people.”  To contact Emily Freehling, communications@atssa.com .