German transportation software developer Gewi, together with its partners Here and iCone, will be demonstrating an off-the-shelf system that gives drivers advance warning of highway workzones at the upcoming ITS America conference, which is taking place on June 4-7, in Detroit, Michigan.
Safety in workzones is a significant problem worldwide, and the main cause of crashes is drivers being unaware of the approaching hazard. Gewi is the developer of Traveler Information Center (TIC), one of the most widely-used off-the-shelf software platforms for managing roadway information, and the new system makes use of components from its partners, Here and iCone.
Gewi’s TIC Software will be used to receive live iCone Workzone ITS device data, which is then published through the Here’s real-time traffic information system. Although the original concept was first demonstrated by Gewi at the ITS World Congress in Orlando, Florida, in 2011, the new deployment being demonstrated at ITS America 2018 no longer involves prototypes, but actual production off-the-shelf systems that supply traffic data to any of Here’s products and customers.
The iCone products transmit a warning message that is generated by its connected workzone equipment, which can be an arrow trailer, crash truck or other device used for securing accident locations, mowing/sweeping work or other activities along the roadway.
The location and status of this fixed or moving workzone data is collected by Gewi’s TIC software that distributes the information via RDS/TMC (radio data system/traffic message channel) and TPEG (transport protocol experts group) to the car radios and navigation systems of all road users on the corresponding roadway segment. By providing advanced notification of these activities, driver awareness is heightened, which results in fewer incidents in the construction zones.
Here expects to roll out construction workzone and lane closure incidents using live iCone ITS workzone data in 2018, using Gewi TIC software features for incident gathering in Here’s traffic operations. This will greatly enhance both coverage and accuracy for construction workzones and lane closures in products using the company’s traffic data. Motorists, road agencies and work crews will benefit from safer, more efficient experiences by gaining more complete, accurate knowledge of exactly when and where workzones and lane closures are in effect.
The ITS America demonstration is a similar system to the one that Gewi and iCone have successfully deployed in a pilot project in Germany’s Saxony-Anhalt region, which was launched in March.
Following the successful Smart Workzone to Navigation System implementation in Germany, Gewi, iCone and Here, have announced a similar program for North America, with the technology also due to be available worldwide in the near future as a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) system.
“Obtaining real-time information from workzones is a problem worldwide,” noted Gewi’s founder, Hagen Geppert. “Our TIC Software Product makes it possible to collect the many new types of real-time data from workzones and make it available to navigation devices, broadcasters, applications, and any type of public or private system which requires the data.”
