Using Connected Vehicle Trajectory Data to Evaluate the Impact of Automated Work Zone Speed Enforcement.

Area of Science:

• Transportation Engineering
• Traffic Safety
• Data Analytics

Background:

• Work zone safety is a critical concern for transportation agencies nationwide.
• Reducing work zone crashes requires effective speed compliance strategies.
• Automated enforcement is a potential solution for improving safety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of automated work zone speed enforcement on driver behavior.
• To compare speed compliance in work zones with and without automated enforcement.
• To analyze factors influencing speed compliance, such as work zone length.

Main Methods:

• Utilized connected vehicle trajectory data (over 300 million data points).
• Analyzed speed data from work zones in Pennsylvania (with enforcement) and Indiana (without enforcement).
• Conducted spatial analysis of speed compliance at 0.1-mile intervals.

Main Results:

• Overall speed compliance increased in work zones with automated enforcement.
• Pennsylvania work zones showed higher compliance (63-84%) compared to Indiana (25-50%).
• Shorter work zones (<3 miles) demonstrated better speed compliance.

Conclusions:

• Automated work zone speed enforcement is effective in improving driver compliance.
• Enforcement effectiveness may be influenced by work zone length.
• Speeds tend to increase again within 1-2 miles post-enforcement zone.