2.10 Roadway Operations and Maintenance

Operating and maintaining transportation systems is costly. Many state DOTs are implementing ITS to better manage roadway maintenance efforts and to enhance safety on the transportation system. ITS applications in operations and maintenance focus on integrated management of maintenance fleets, specialized service vehicles, hazardous road conditions remediation, and work zone mobility and safety. Systems and processes are required to monitor, analyze, and disseminate roadway/infrastructure data for operational, maintenance, and managerial uses. ITS can help secure the safety of workers and travelers in a work zone while facilitating traffic flow through and around the construction area.

Figure 2.10.1 summarizes the classification scheme for collecting benefits and costs information for roadway operation and maintenance. Information dissemination technologies can be deployed temporarily, or existing systems can be updated periodically to provide information on work zones or other highway maintenance activities. Several applications help state DOTs with asset management, including fleet tracking applications, as well as automated data collection applications for monitoring the condition of highway infrastructure.

ITS applications in work zones include the temporary implementation of traffic management or incident management capabilities. These temporary systems can be stand-alone implementations or they may supplement existing systems in the area during construction. Other applications for managing work zones include measures to control vehicle speeds and notify travelers of changes in lane configurations or travel times and delays through the work zones. ITS may also be used to manage traffic along detour routes during full road closures to facilitate rapid and safe reconstruction projects.

Table 2.10.1 provides information on the benefits and costs of roadway operations and maintenance. An assessment of the impact of these systems is indicated by using the symbols in the Impact Legend at the bottom of each page.

Table 2.10.1 – Benefits and Costs of Roadway Operations and Maintenance

Information Dissemination

Benefits
Goal Area	# of Studies	Impact	Example
(New) Safety	2	+	In Arkansas, automated work zone information systems (AWIS) were installed and tested at construction sites in two cities. Each AWIS was primarily a queue detection system designed to calculate and report delay times to travelers via roadside changeable message signs. Analysis of the impacts of the system indicated rear-end crashes and fatalities were less frequent in areas where AWIS was deployed, however, the observation period for this study was limited, so the results may not be representative. The results may be further confounded by a statewide work zone safety information campaign conducted at the time of the study.[130]
Costs
Unit Costs Database	Roadside Telecommunications subsystem Roadside Information subsystem Information Service Provider subsystem Personal Devices subsystem Transportation Management Center subsystem		See Appendix A
(New) System Cost	In 2000, the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD) began the Interstate Rehabilitation Project, a five-year construction project including the rebuilding of 60% of Arkansas's total Interstate miles. Two work zones were equipped with two different types of AWIS in an attempt to mitigate traffic congestion and automobile incidents at the work zone site. Both systems were provided by a contractor. The first site was a 6.3-mile segment of I-40 located in Lonoke County. This AWIS included a central system controller, two highway advisory radios (HAR), five traffic radar sensors measuring vehicle speed, five dynamic message signs (DMS) and two supplemental speed stations. The second site was an 8.6-mile segment of I-40 located in Pulaski County. This AWIS included a central system controller, a host computer in the engineer's office, two DMS, queue detection sensors, and five HAR. Both systems utilize traffic sensors and DMS that are equipped to communicate with a central controller via radio (Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or FHWA band). The DMS were automated to display one of the various preset messages available. The display corresponded to the scenario monitored by the traffic sensors.[131]		Lonoke County AWIS: $322,500 Pulaski County AWIS: $490,000
(New) System Cost	The New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department (NMSHTD) used ITS in a two-year construction project of "The Big I" interchange where I-40 and I-25 intersect. The system included eight fixed CCTV cameras, eight modular (expandable) DMS, four arrow dynamic signs, four portable DMS, four portable traffic management systems (a single integrated platform for camera and DMS), and four HAR units. Components were linked to base station computers via wireline and wireless communications. Information on traffic conditions were provided via the HAR and DMS, and via other outlets to include website, radio, fax, and e-mail distribution lists. NMSHTD purchased the ITS with the intent of incorporating much of the system into a freeway management system once construction was completed. Other components would be used in future work zone projects.[19]		Work zone ITS cost: $1.5 million

Asset Management: Fleet Management

Benefits
No data to report.
Costs
Unit Costs Database	Fleet Management subsystem	See Appendix A
System Cost	The purpose of the Advanced Rural Transportation Information and Coordination (ARTIC) project in Minnesota was to share application of ITS across various public agencies such as transportation, public safety, and transit utilizing a central communications and dispatching center. Automated vehicle location (AVL)/Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment was installed on fleet vehicles for ease of location, identification, and dispatching. Mobile data terminals (MDT) were also installed allowing for data transmission between the vehicles and the dispatch center. AVL and MDT were installed on 15 Mn/DOT vehicles, four Minnesota State Police (MSP) vehicles, and 15 transit buses. To demonstrate the capability of transmitting data from fleet vehicles to the center, an interface was developed between the MDT and the sand spreader control on the snow plows.[53]	Project cost for AVL and MDT installation: $1.574 million

Asset Management: Infrastructure Management

Benefits
Goal Area	# of Studies	Impact	Example
(New) Productivity	1	?	In Montana, weigh-in-motion (WIM) sensors were installed directly in freeway travel lanes to continuously collect truck weight and classification data at 28 sites. The study found that if freeway pavement designs were based on fatigue calculations derived from comprehensive WIM data instead of weigh station data, the state would save about $4.1 million each year in construction costs. The pavement fatigue calculations based on WIM data were 11% lower on Interstate roadways and 26% on non-Interstate primary roadways.[132]
Costs
Unit Costs Database	Fleet Management subsystem		See Appendix A
System Cost	No data to report.

Work Zone Management

Benefits
Goal Area	# of Studies	Impact	Example
(New) Safety	4	+	Iowa evaluated the effectiveness of a citizens band (CB) radio alert system used to warn approaching truckers of slow-moving maintenance vehicles on I-35. The test was conducted using a roadway paint crew of four to five vehicles traveling at 25 miles per hour (mph) spread out over one mile. The trailing vehicle in the crew was equipped with a CB transmitter to automatically broadcast warning message up to a distance of four miles. A survey found that 39 of 59 truckers who saw the paint crew indicated the alert system was effective at warning them of workers in the roadway.[133]
Mobility	2	+	Average clearance times for incidents were reduced by 44% with the implementation of motorist assistance patrols and a temporary traffic management center during a construction project at the "Big I" interchange in Albuquerque, New Mexico. During weekday operations, the Highway Department allocated two courtesy patrol units to patrol the construction zone between 5 a.m. and 8 p.m. on weekdays, and a wrecker was an on-call from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.[18]
Customer Satisfaction	3	+	An investigation into remote speed enforcement in work zones in Texas drew mixed results from project participants. While officers felt the system had the potential to allow safe enforcement of speed limits in work zones, by relaying images of offending drivers to officers downstream, some had concerns regarding the proper identification of speeding vehicles.[134]
Costs
Unit Costs Database	Roadside Telecommunications subsystem Roadside Detection subsystem Roadside Control subsystem Roadside Information subsystem Transportation Management Center subsystem		See Appendix A
(New) System Cost	The Michigan DOT (MDOT) used a temporary traffic management system (TTMS) during a construction project in downtown Lansing. The system was deployed from March 2001 to October 2001 and removed at the completion of the construction project. The project involved a complete closure of portions of I-496. The TTMS was used throughout the construction project. The system included 17 cameras, 12 DMS, six queue detectors (microwave sensors), and a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software package that ran on a server located at the construction traffic management center.[19]		Cost to lease the TTMS: $2.4 million (which is about 6% of the total project construction cost)
System Cost	Ohio DOT installed Web cameras in its I-70 work zone to assist in traffic management. The cost of installation was kept very low due to the use of temporary structures. Although the installations were temporary and would not meet environmental standards for permanent structures, the video images of traffic in the construction areas were beneficial to Ohio DOT.[135]		System cost: $17,000 for eight cameras
System Cost	Michigan DOT teamed up with FHWA and Michigan State University for an 18-month study to test the use of variable speed limits (VSL) in work zones. The equipment, seven VSL trailers, was rented for the study. The project cost includes the equipment, technical support, and transport of the VSL trailers.[136]		Project cost: $400,900 (2002)

Table of Contents | Previous | Next

ITS Home | US DOT Home | Privacy | Feedback

United States Department of Transportation - ITS