Implementation of a real-time data driven system to provide queue alerts to stakeholders

Queueing frequently occurs in advance of interstate work zones, and back-of-queue crashes are of concern to all agencies. This paper reports on a real-time, probe vehicle data-based system for generating texts/emails to alert the Indiana Department of Transportation to interstate work zone queueing in real-time. Six work zones were identified for this study. When average speeds drop below 72 km/h (45 MPH), queue monitoring algorithms are triggered and an alert is sent to selected individuals. Still camera images, work schedules, and crash reports were used to ground-truth the alert system. During the summer of 2016, this algorithm was first deployed in 7 work zones with 13 users receiving text messages. On average, there were 8 text messages per day per work zone. The paper concludes by recommending the use of probe vehicle data for queue monitoring due to the scalable, cost effective nature of the technology and the ability to rapidly deploy monitored areas. Ongoing work is focused on improving the robustness of the algorithm and providing severity filtering to reduce the number of alerts for senior managers interested in receiving information on only the most severe conditions.