The Work Zone Data Exchange (WZDx) data specification is part of a larger effort by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to modernize work zone data. Prior to the Work Zone Data Initiative (WZDI) and the WZDx specification, there was no standard for handling the complexities of work zone data lifecycle management, work zone common core data elements, and their definitions. The specification itself was developed to provide a reference guide or standard method of digitally communicating work zone activities. Early versions of the specification focused on communicating work zone data elements to connected and autonomous vehicles. More broadly, work zones are dynamic and involve many stakeholders, and developing a standard definition for communicating work zone information digitally is essential to the increasing demands of agencies to become more data driven with their operations and maintenance activities.
WZDx Version 1.x was developed to provide infrastructure owners and operators (IOO) the ability to transmit authoritative data to mapping and equipment manufacturers of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV) with the goal of adding additional use cases in the future. In 2019, the Work Zone Data Working Group (WZDWG) was established to advance the WZDx specification. Several changes were identified and made to the specification before the release of version 2, such as adopting a relational model approach, eliminating nested tables, and making the specification more scalable. The GeoJSON format was also formally adopted by the group to facilitate easier use of the data by consumers. Road closure impact reporting was simplified to include partially closed, fully closed, and fully open options. Lane-level restrictions were added to the specification so that agencies could report work zone impacts for each lane of roadway, when available. 1 Subsequent versions of the specification include additional agency functions and additional external stakeholders.
Efforts to advance and develop the specification can be found on the WZDx GitHub website, which is open and available to the public. The site also contains tools for validating JSON files and developing a data feed. These tools are currently only available for version 1.1, but version 2.0 tools are expected in the near future. In January 2021, the USDOT awarded nearly $2.4 million in WZDx demonstration grants across 13 states to aid adoption.
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Additional Resources:
- 1WZDx v2.0 Feed JSON Schema. (2020, 07 10). Retrieved from Work Zone Data Exchange (WZDx) - v2.0 Github Repository: https://github.com/usdot-jpo-ode/jpo-wzdx/blob/master/create-feed/schemas/wzdx_v2.0_feed.json
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