8 Work Zone Safety
8.3.2 Drone Radar in Work Zones – Kansas
The information on the Drone Radar System was obtained from the Midwest States Smart Work Zone Deployment Initiative Year One Report.22
Impetus for the Activity
The States of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska formed the Midwest States Smart Work Zone Deployment Initiative to test and evaluate technologies for improving safety and efficiency of traffic operations in work zones. By working together, the agencies avoid unnecessary duplication of research through sharing of research results.
Criteria for System Selection (Hardware and Software)
The group held a series of three workshops to identify work zone problems, to define solutions and to select the technologies for evaluation. Potential solutions were presented by technology providers, and these solutions were matched with work zones on specific construction projects. The Drone Radar System, provided by Speed Management Industries, Inc. was evaluated in Kansas.
Description of the System
The Drone Radar system was deployed and tested during the 1999 construction season. This system is intended to trigger radar detectors, hopefully causing drivers in vehicles equipped with radar detectors, who assumedly travel faster than the speed limit and mean speed, to slow down. The objectives of this evaluation were to reduce speeds in work zones and to reduce speed variance in work zones.
Two units were deployed at either end of a 1.6 km work zone on rural I-70 in Wabaunsee County. The segment has an ADT of 18,000 vehicles per day. The system sends out a signal to trigger radar detection devices in vehicles, hopefully warning them to slow down. The expected result of deployment of the system was a significant reduction in both speed and speed variance in the work zone.
System Performance
No problems with system performance were noted in the Kansas report. It was noted that during twice a week inspections the power supplies for one or both units were found to have been exhausted. The evaluation team determined that the batteries could be expected to power the drones for at least 24 hours.
System Effectiveness Evaluation
The effectiveness of the system was formally evaluated in a “before and after” type study. The measures of effectiveness used were speed and speed distribution.
The evaluation team found that no consistent pattern existed in changes in the mean and 85th percentile speeds. The team concluded that the use of a radar drone system does not seem to be effective in reducing work zone speeds.