Join the Work Zone Data Initiative

Work Zone Activity Data (WZAD) took center stage at the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) one-day Work Zone Data Initiative (WZDI) Symposium, held on Sept. 11 in conjunction with the 2018 National Work Zone Management Conference.

The WZDI’s goal is to develop a recommended practice for managing WZAD, and to create a consistent language for communicating work zone activity information across jurisdictional and organizational boundaries.

At the event, participants:

• Heard insights about work zone data management from a broad audience of transportation stakeholders in the public and private sector; including successes, challenges, implications, and opportunities
• Discussed the scope of WZAD throughout the project delivery life-cycle; how it can be used, and ideas of what the data should look like as government and industry work toward a unified specification

FHWA invites you to get involved with the WZDI today:

• Visit the collaboration site to review and comment on the draft Framework and Data Dictionary
• Sign up to be a WZAD pilot deployment site: Participate in the collaborative development of the evolving data standard, access free technical assistance on implementing the WZAD standard in your organization, and explore the benefits of participating in a shared, standardized WZAD environment with other participants
• Submit your success story to highlight as a work zone data best practice or case study
• Check out the WZDI Fact Sheet and Information Card

➜ For more information, email WZDI@dot.gov. 

Todd Peterson, WZDI Project Manager, sets the stage around the need for work zone activity data at the Symposium.

Attendees heard about the WZDI Framework, which assists transportation agencies in organizing and sharing their WZAD.

The 2018 National Work Zone Management Conference in Herndon, VA, brought stakeholders in the transportation construction industry together with national experts.

Contents

• Join the Work Zone Data Initiative
• WZ Resources
• Upcoming Events
• Recent Events
• Smarter Work Zones

WZ Resources

Improving Work Zones Every Day, in Every Way. This article discusses a comprehensive set of programs, strategies, and tools that FHWA developed under its Work Zone Management Program to mitigate the safety and mobility impacts of work zones.

➜ Read the full article here.

Accommodating Pedestrians in Work Zones. FHWA’s recent webinar shared information on resources developed under the Work Zone Safety Grant program. In addition to the field guide, two training courses on designing temporary traffic control zones for pedestrian accessibility, and temporary traffic control considerations for urban work zones are available.

➜ Access resources here.

Work Zone Crash Data Collection, Reporting, and Analysis. Resources from a Wayne State University-Transportation Research Group and the University of Missouri, Columbia webinar are now available. The webinar explored sources of crash databases, work zone crash analyses methods, and the data collection process among other topics.

➜ Access resources here.

Upcoming Events

Work Zone Management (WZM) Capability Maturity Framework (CMF) Assessment Tool and Process Review Workshops. The framework is intended for agencies or regions to assess current work zone management capabilities. Once determined, the CMF tool provides a list of actions for organizations to raise their capabilities to the desired levels. 

• New Hampshire Department of Transportation (DOT), October 29-30, 2018
• New York State DOT, November 6-7, 2018
• Montana DOT, February 2019

➜ For more information, please contact Jawad Paracha, FHWA Work Zone Management Team Program Manager.

➜ More information about the tool is available here.

Recent Events

WZM CMF Assessment Tool and Process Review Workshops.

• Vermont DOT, September 18-19, 2018
• Oklahoma DOT, September 25-26, 2018
• Minnesota DOT, October 15-16, 2018

➜ For more information, please contact Jawad Paracha, FHWA Work Zone Management Team Program Manager.

Work Zone Intelligent Transportation System (WZITS) Workshop.

• Springfield, IL, August 15, 2018

➜ Access the WZITS tool here.

➜ For more information, please contact Todd Peterson, FHWA Work Zone Management Team Transportation Specialist.

Smarter Work Zones

While the official Every Day Counts (EDC-3) period concluded in December 2016, Smarter Work Zones (SWZ) resources remain available. 

Transportation agencies can now access the final report for the SWZ initiative. Other resources, related publications, case studies, tools, and webinars are also available here.