alexandramitrutoiu, Author at Causeway one.network

one.network is excited to announce our attendance at the ITS World Congress 2022. The event taking place September 18th to 22nd, is a chance for world leaders, practitioners, policy makers, researchers and private industry to come together at the Los Angeles Convention Center to discuss the latest in intelligent transportation and current, cutting-edge products and technologies.

The theme of this global event is ‘Transformation by Transportation’, and it aims to unite the intelligent transportation systems industry to discover ways in which we can advance and transform mobility for the future. It presents a fantastic opportunity to connect with others to deepen our understanding and become more adaptive in an ever-increasing technology-driven world.

You can find the one.network team on Stand 1247, part of the UK Pavilion, where we’ll be ready and waiting to discuss the power of connected work zone management and share more details on our newly announced work zone safety pilot with Florida Department of Transportation and our life-saving technology.

We’re privileged to be participating in two Special Interest Sessions that are set to provide delegates with valuable insights.

Our CCO, Simon Topp, will be participating in Panel SIS64: Connecting Work Zones to Connected Vehicles: Saving Lives and Building Efficiency in a CAV Future. Scott Belcher, President and CEO of SFB Consulting and ex-President and CEO of ITS America, will lead a conversation on the current state of play in work zones, new initiatives and the long terms goals for connecting agencies, third party organizations and vehicles with crucial data to keep workers and drivers safe.

Simon will be joined by Carol Kuester (Metropolitan Transportation Commission), Michele Mueller (Michigan DOT), and Ananth Prasad, President of the Florida Transportation Builders Association and ex-FDOT Secretary.

Time: 8:00am-9:30am
Date: Wednesday, 21st September
Location: 405, Level 2, LA Convention Center

Later in the day, our CEO and Founder, James Harris, will be taking part in Panel SIS74: Europe’s Lessons Learned: How Europe’s Growing Pains Can Save U.S. Transportation Agencies Time and Money. Paul Hutton, the Technology Editor of Highways News, will moderate a discussion, allowing panelists to share their insights and experiences from overseas, good and bad, for the benefit of an American audience.

Topics will include planning for major events, standardization of technology and traffic management protocols, improving work zone safety and most importantly, mistakes made on the road to success.

James will be joined by Alfredo Escriba (Kapsch Trafficcom), Michael Gaertner (Yunex Traffic), Mayumi Mizuno (TomTom), and Anthony Ferguson (UK Department for Transport).

Time: 1:30pm-3:00pm
Date: Wednesday, 21st September
Location: 407, Level 2, LA Convention Center

You can register to attend ITS World Congress 2022 here.

If you’d like to arrange a time to chat with us in person, please get in touch.

For the first time in the United States, construction crews in work zones will be able to post real-time lane closure information to major GPS providers.

one.network, an innovative road management software as a service (SaaS) technology provider that empowers road agencies to plan, manage and coordinate work zones in real-time, today announced the launch of a major work zone safety pilot with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). The Lane Closure Notification System (LCNS) is a first-of-its-kind statewide technology pilot that will allow authorized workers to update lane closure and other construction site information directly from the work zone using a mobile app. The project will use Live Link, one.network’s proprietary shared road management platform that seamlessly connects with America’s major GPS providers. For the first time in the United States, drivers will be able to count on timely and accurate work zone information through their preferred mapping app or device.

In preparation for the rollout, hundreds of road construction work zone supervisors have undergone training on how to utilize the technology. This unprecedented safety project will provide them with one.network’s Live Link smart phone app, enabling workers to geometrically map out lane closures for each work zone construction site, and with the push of a button, close and open the lanes in near real-time. The digital updates will include the presence of workers and any change in speed limits associated with the closure. The information will then be provided directly to GPS companies who will update their maps for the safety and planning benefit of the driving public. The pilot will cover all planned construction sites across FDOT’s 7 regional districts that together represent more than 12,000 miles of state roads, including the Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise. It’s anticipated that the pilot rollout will include over 500 construction projects over the next few months. More than 100 road authorities in the United Kingdom are already actively using the one.network platform, but this will be its first application in the United States.

“We’re extremely excited to work with FDOT to implement Live Link and improve safety for drivers and workers across the state. The data and technology we’re bringing to this initiative puts critical work zone information directly into the vehicles and devices of road users. With innovative agencies like FDOT leading the way, we can finally start to reverse the tragedy of work zone deaths and injuries that has become an unacceptable reality on our roads.”

– James Harris, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, one.network

The complexity of the state’s road and highway network makes Florida the perfect venue for this pilot. The network ranks 18th in miles owned, but experiences the third highest total of daily vehicle miles travelled at 208 million. At any given time in Florida, there are hundreds of active FDOT roadway construction sites, which puts an overwhelming number of people in daily contact with ever-changing work zones. Statewide crash data from 2017 to 2021 indicate that Florida experienced more than 53,000 work zone-related crashes, including 356 fatalities and more 1,904 severe injuries. This pilot is designed to help reduce those numbers and protect construction crews in work zones.

“Safety is critical to the mission of FDOT. This innovative real-time Lane Closure Notification System is the first of its kind in North America and will be essential for improving construction worker and motorist safety in work zones across Florida. We appreciate the opportunity to be the first in the nation to utilize this state-of-the-art technology and look forward to further collaboration with our construction, maintenance, and technology partners to advance FDOT’s safety goals.”

– Jared W. Perdue, P.E., Florida Department of Transportation Secretary

The project will be rolled out over the next several months and FDOT will require all contracted firms for new road construction to use Live Link to protect workers and drivers.

“Expanding communications technology is going to be key to saving lives in work zones and out on our roadways. Live Link gives our members a way to tell drivers to slow down and be extra diligent when they enter a work zone. These construction zones are their office and for the first time, we’re giving them a real-time voice in their own safety.”

– Ananth Prasad, President of the Florida Transportation Builders Association

The Live Link app is part of one.network’s map-based platform which is capable of ingesting and standardizing multiple traffic data sources, visualizing the data using an intuitive interface, and providing APIs for distribution to third parties. Within the pilot project, one.network will also integrate with Florida’s SunGuide traffic management system to pull in traffic incidents and other construction information, and share an aggregated data feed with GPS providers for the first time. Planned construction information will be posted under the current pilot program, with maintenance, utility and other projects to be considered for inclusion at a later date.

Construction technology provider Causeway Technologies, backed by Five Arrows, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire one.network, the world’s leading digital road management platform from Bridgepoint, the global private equity firm. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The one.network platform transforms how highway authorities, utility companies and contractors plan, coordinate and communicate traffic interventions by enabling cross-sector collaboration and seamless public engagement. The one.network platform helps maintain more resilient road networks, reducing congestion, enhancing safety and improving journey reliability.

With over 20,000 operational users and many millions of public citizens and road users, one.network now underpins traffic operations and communications across the UK and the USA.

This is the fourth strategic acquisition by Causeway since Five Arrows made a significant investment in 2021, and reinforces Causeway’s strategy to digitise the processes that underpin the construction and maintenance of the built environment.

Phil Brown, Chief Executive of Causeway, said:

“The acquisition of one.network further underlines our commitment to join up the workflow to provide one comprehensive, end-to-end offering for highways authorities and utility companies and their contractors to plan, monitor and communicate the management and maintenance of their assets. It’s also very exciting to be able to deliver this combined offer to the US market now.

Combining one.network with Causeway’s current infrastructure asset management solutions, including Causeway Alloy and Horizons, will streamline critical processes and deliver compelling insights to our customers.

The integration of one.network’s digital roadwork planning capabilities will significantly enhance our product portfolio and offer an unrivalled experience in managing the road infrastructure to improve efficiency and safety and help drive carbon savings. We look forward to a fruitful collaboration that will bring great value to our mutual clients.”

James Harris, CEO at one.network, said:

“one.network has been at the forefront of transforming how road agencies collaborate and communicate. Since founding the business in 2011 we have brought digital transformation to the roadworks industry across the UK and are now replicating these improvements for agencies in the US. I would like to express my gratitude to Bridgepoint for their support and strategic insights that have been instrumental in our growth and expansion over the past few years.

As we step into this new phase with Causeway, we share a common vision and values, and are excited about the opportunities this collaboration presents. The addition of one.network’s platform with Causeway’s extensive product suite will deliver considerable benefits to our clients in the highways and utilities sector.”

Duncan Calam, Partner and Head of Bridgepoint Growth said:

“We identified one.network as an exciting pioneer in the traffic management industry. The company’s innovative software is highly regarded by its customers, who use it to improve communication and reduce congestion – benefits that have a significant impact on both road users and the environment.

We are incredibly proud to have been able to invest in one.network. Since our investment in 2018, we have worked closely with James Harris and the management team. During this period, the company has grown from being the UK market leader to a global business, more than tripling its revenue in the process. one.network’s consistent growth and success are a testament to its unique and ground-breaking product, as well as its high-quality SaaS business model. We look forward to seeing the company’s progress in the years to come and wish the team every success with Causeway and Five Arrows.”

Coordinating and communicating disruption on our roadways is vital to increasing safety, reducing congestion and building confidence with the traveling public.

We’ve partnered with smart infrastructure technology leader Iteris to host a 60 minute live webinar – Transforming Work Zones in Texas: How the latest connected technologies can improve safety and efficiency.

We’ll be discussing how counties, cities and public works teams in Texas and beyond can overcome current work zone data challenges, improve internal and cross-jurisdictional communication, and leverage connected work zone technologies to:

Streamline workflows.
Boost operational efficiency.
Increase public engagement.
Improve worker and public safety
Enhance planning and optimize closures
Manage and mitigate congestion

Join us on Thursday June 8th at 14:00 (ET), when you’ll hear from Scott Perley, VP Performance Analytics at Iteris, Rob Foster, Director at one.network and our Chief Product Officer, Adam Graham who co-chairs the Work Zone Data Working Group and is a Voting Member on the FHWA’s new Connected Work Zone Committee.

During the webinar, we’ll demonstrate how agencies can easily deploy the one.network platform and Iteris’ ClearGuide® software to build future-ready processes, and improve work zone safety and efficiency.

You can register for the webinar here.

Sometimes a collaboration between two entities can have serious implications for a third. Such is the case with the recently announced partnership between, one.network, a leading road management and work zone data technology provider and Drivewyze, a trucking communications and safety firm with clients throughout the US and Canada. The third entity in this relationship is the work zone crews who build and maintain our roads – crews who will finally be able to take charge of their own safety. Through this partnership, truckers will have access to crucial information provided by workers in the job site, on exactly where work zones are, which lanes they occupy, and even whether workers are present. That’s critically important because of the more than 800 fatal work zone crashes that occur in the United States each year, nearly a third involve commercial trucks. It’s understandable considering their massive weights, longer stopping distances and lack of maneuverability, combined with the fact that commercial trucks travel more miles than any other class of vehicle. Understandable, maybe, but acceptable? In the eyes of one.network, no.

“We believe to attack the work zone crash crisis most effectively, we need to address the issues with the greatest potential impact first. Collaborating with Drivewyze to share information with truckers in the in-cab format and environment they’re already using, makes perfect sense.”

– James Harris, CEO & Founder, one.network

one.network’s work zone safety and event planning software is ubiquitous in the United Kingdom where it serves more than 90% of traffic agencies, but in the United States, the company is just hitting its stride. Despite being a relatively new entrant into the US market, the company has already gotten attention from several major agencies, including the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), signing an agreement to conduct a statewide pilot using one.network’s platform to increase safety in work zones from Tallahassee to Tampa, Miami to Miramar.

As part of the agreement, FDOT is also using the company’s Live Link application which is a first of its kind solution that allows workers in work zones to update lane closures and openings, road closings and even whether a work zone is active, directly from the job site. Through a few clicks on a cell phone app, those workers can upload information directly to GPS providers including Apple Maps, Google, and WAZE sharing accurate and timely information with the driving public in near real time. It’s a radical enhancement to the traditional method of sharing information with drivers through overhead signs, flashing lights and cones, an enhancement that immediately appealed to Drivewyze.

“Lane closures and work zones occur frequently on roadways today. Speeding, weaving, and congestion create dangerous environments for other drivers and roadway workers. one.network solutions help solve this challenge and offer improved work zone and lane closure data to connected vehicles and the motoring public. With this partnership, Drivewyze can extend these work zone and lane closure safety programs into commercial motor vehicles, offering state agencies a unique one-to-many reach across the regulated and, historically, fragmented trucking industry.”

– Brian Heath, CEO, Drivewyze

The partnership provides two important benefits for one.network. First, Drivewyze has a massive reach throughout North America. As a measure of the company’s impact, Drivewyze offers bypass and in-cab safety notification programs throughout the United States and Canada, including the agency-sponsored Smart Roadways portfolio of alerts. In total, the Drivewyze application sends around half a million in-cab notifications per day to commercial motor vehicles. The company’s platform is simple to use and works on devices designed specifically for truck cabs as well as on iPads and cell phones. Second, one.network’s Live Link is a natural fit. Getting a solution that delivers crucial information into the hands, and cabs of the drivers most often involved in work zone crashes has clear potential to reduce work zone crashes and by extension, fatalities. Both companies are committed to the goals of Vision Zero, to eliminate fatal crashes altogether, and the impact of the two companies working together is far greater than either could manage on their own.

“This is a math equation. When you add together the safety solution we offer and the distribution channels Drivewyze is bringing to the table, the benefit goes way beyond anything else currently out there.”

– James Harris, CEO & Founder, one.network

For one.network, that distribution channel also extends to Drivewyze’s established relationships with departments of transportation throughout the United States. That coverage reach comes with the ability to open doors and introduce one.network to new clients.

“We’re in the business of saving lives. Our challenge isn’t in the quality of our solution. That’s tested and proven. The challenge is about broadening awareness that our solution can advance any agency’s Vision Zero aspirations.”

– James Harris, CEO & Founder, one.network

While this collaboration is rooted in work zone safety, both companies are leaders in their respective fields with extensive intelligent transportation offerings. one.network’s plan share platform for example, will dramatically simplify road works planning and permitting and the company’s live maps pull and enrich data to offer a digital view of regional and even national road incursions. Drivewyze is helping revolutionize intelligent transportation with a suite of roadway sensors and connected vehicle solutions that are available as off the shelf solutions to agencies and infrastructure owners. The pedigree of the companies goes to their combined value proposition. Together, they offer the innovation and ingenuity of a startup with the stability and staying power of a legacy transportation leader

“So often we hear about solutions being developed that are in search of a problem. We are solving the most important transportation problem there is, and that’s keeping people alive. This collaboration has the potential to change the work zone safety landscape. We couldn’t be more proud to be working with our friends from Drivewyze.”

– James Harris, CEO & Founder, one.network

When our industry commemorates (not celebrates, please) National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) beginning 17 April, you’ll hear a lot of messages reminding drivers to slow down and drive carefully. You’ll probably hear one statistic over and over again. In an average year, more than 800 people die in work zone crashes. It’s shocking, jarring and hopefully, it moves us all. But will it move us to action?

The language we use to address the crisis is important. In my view, the word average (and I’ve used it) is offensive. At the risk of sounding preachy, there’s nothing average about a family losing a loved one violently and traumatically. I also believe we concentrate too much on 800 and not enough on the word, people in that sentence. Numbers represent math. People represent mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. Each one in that 800 represents the worst day in the lives of their families left behind.

Which way are workzone fatalities trending?

Work zone safety is something we think about 52 weeks a year, not just one, and we try to do it remembering we’re not just doing a job; we have the potential to save lives today. It’s a spur to remind us to think deeper, work harder and deliver stronger, because if we don’t give it our all, somebody’s mom or dad could die unnecessarily.

In the quarter century since a group from the Virginia Department of Transportation first envisioned a special week to raise awareness about work zone safety, the National Work Zone Awareness Week commemoration has done a lot to recognise the dangers work crews and drivers face in work zones.

Their goals were (and are) to raise awareness about the dangers that exist in work zones, to standardize and promote a series of tips, and to reach out to work crews and contractors about how traffic delays can influence driver behavior.
Still, in an era when the goals of Vision Zero are baked into many agencies’ strategic plans, workzone fatalities are trending in the wrong direction. A graph of the last decade shows a consistent low-left to high-right diagonal increase from 590 deaths in 2011 to 857 in 2020. That’s 267 more family members lost.

Why it’s time for new thinking

But we can do something about it. If you’re reading this in ITS International, you’re a member of America’s transportation community and you’ve opted in by default. Because while it’s important to remind drivers to take greater care around work zones, can we put the full burden on them with the expectation they’ll remember the message when they’re speeding through an occupied workzone? Honestly, I doubt it.

Playing the ‘public responsibility’ card hasn’t worked so far and I believe it’s time for new thinking. As an industry, we need to place the responsibility squarely on those who can influence the trajectory of work zone crashes: you and me.
We have the networks, the commitment and most importantly, the technology to drive the numbers down and I believe technology is the answer.

Overhead signage, warning signals and cones have done a reasonable job for years, but each has its issues. Permanent overhead signs are often far away from work zones and signals and lights are often too close. Reasonable is no longer good enough. Connected workzones offer the same safety promise as connected vehicles, relaying accurate information to drivers at the right place and the right time. This is a case where the greater the brainpower applied to the crisis, the greater the opportunity for meaningful change.
At one.network, we’re one of several companies working on the issue. Our Live Link solution is part of a statewide programme in collaboration with Florida DoT and we anticipate more initiatives in the next few weeks. Live Link allows crews to open and close lanes and even roads directly from the workzone with our easy-to-use mobile app. This critical information then flows through our platform and, in real time, we put it to work. We standardize and publish it to WZDx feeds and crucially, we transform it into native formats to enable direct data integrations to Waze, Google, Apple and TomTom, so workzone crews can effectively push closure information to drivers.

45,000 injured: that’s a sell-out crowd at Yankee Stadium

We’re not alone. Ours is one of a multitude of approaches, but while (of course) I believe our solution is better, all those that provide advance warnings to drivers in their cars or on their cell phones have merit, and all are working toward the same goal of protecting workers and drivers by reducing crashes, injuries and fatalities. The fact is, we need to apply our collective insight and intelligence to the crisis and start treating it like a mission rather than a sales opportunity.

Of course, the private sector can’t make profound change alone. Some departments of transportation are running ahead of the safety curve, but other agencies will have to commit to raising work zone safety to a priority-one level. I know that’s easy for me to say. I don’t have to manage constricted budgets measured against competing priorities but if an agency needs to make a case to its constituents, here’s a profound statistic: the equivalent of five Boeing 737 passenger loads die in work zone crashes each year. In 2020 alone, 45,000 people were injured which is equivalent to a sellout crowd at Yankee Stadium.

Part of the solution is in clearly identifying and working to defeat the consistent issues that contribute to the crisis. That’s another way of saying let’s attack the low-hanging fruit. For example, according to the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearing House, for the last 10 years, commercial trucks have been involved in between 25% and 32% of all work zone fatal crashes.
It makes perfect sense. Commercial trucks travel more miles annually than any other class of vehicle and with their weight and extended stopping distance, they’re obviously less nimble than cars and light duty trucks. But as critical as the situation is, 25-32% is a number we can work with.

It’s why we’re partnering with in-cab information provider Drivewyze to deliver data to truckers as they approach road construction. Drivewyze has tremendous reach with a massive network of cross-platform connected trucks allowing agencies to adopt the service as an extension of state highway safety and traveler information programs.

If you examine the root cause of work zone crashes, it almost always comes down to information delivery and timing. Sometimes it’s a complete lack of information about hazards ahead, sometimes it’s information delivered too late and others it’s delivering information that is completely inaccurate or outdated. Regardless, we can comfortably predict that very few drivers, armed with accurate, well delivered advanced warnings are going to cause a work zone crash. That’s it. That’s the beachhead and in an industry that tends to overcomplicate things, it’s really pretty simple.

This National Work Zone Awareness Week, let’s recommit to working together toward the Vision Zero goal of eliminating deaths on our highways, but also in our work zones. We owe gratitude to the people who build and maintain our roads and the absolute least we can do is to help them get home safely at the end of the day.

one.network, a leading road management and work zone data technology provider, announced today the signing of an agreement with the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) to provide traffic management, work zone notification and construction planning software solutions for the agency. THEA is widely respected as a progressive traffic management and road safety agency and is one of only 10 organizations designated as a connected and autonomous vehicle test bed by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

THEA will deploy the one.network platform in two phases to address a number of scenarios. The initial phase will provide immediate benefits from modules including one.network’s Traffic Management platform, a real-time digital mapping solution and Live Link, which allows authorized workers to update lane closures and schedules right from the work zone. In phase two, THEA will deploy Plan Share, allowing construction firms to dramatically streamline and simplify the permitting process. James Harris, one.network’s founder and CEO said the collaboration is a marriage of like-minded organizations.

“The nation has its eyes on THEA, because it’s committed to using technology to its greatest advantage, assuring efficiency and safety for all,” he said. “We have held that same commitment since our beginning and we couldn’t be more excited to be working with such a progressive agency.”

– James Harris, CEO & Founder, one.network

THEA manages the Selmon Expressway in Tampa but because one.network is already ingesting data from the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County, the project will provide residents with continuous regional information streams across jurisdictions. The agency was looking for a holistic solution and this agreement delivers on its goal to constantly improve its connected vehicle and communications strategies as new technologies emerge.

one.network’s Traffic Management software displays real-time work zone, planned event and incident information on an intuitive digital map. Live Link is a first of its kind program that allows work zone crews to close lanes right from the roadway, sharing that data with GPS providers including Google, WAZE and other companies in their native formats. Plan Share provides road construction firms and utilities with a comprehensive yet simple platform to plan and permit road construction projects.

As part of the agreement, one.network will build a Work Zone Data Exchange (WZDx) feed for THEA, to deliver work zone data to the Federal Highway Administration’s national repository of work zone data, that will be shared with other agencies and third parties across the nation.

The agreement cements one.network’s prominence in Florida where the Florida Department of Transportation’s statewide Lane Closure Notification System (LCNS) is powered by one.network’s Live Link software, providing GPS companies with real-time work zone data throughout the state.

For more information on one.network and our solutions, click here.

one.network, an innovative road management software as a service (SaaS) technology provider, today announced that Adam Graham, one.network’s chief product officer, has been selected as one of eight voting members for the new Connected Work Zone (CWZ) Standard Committee. This committee will oversee the final transition of the existing Work Zone Data Exchange (WZDx) protocol as it becomes the formal CWZ national standard by 2025. The implementation of the CWZ Standard is being sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation and will fall under the oversight of the new committee established through the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE).

The Work Zone Data Exchange (WZDx) was the result of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) national initiative to standardize work zone data sharing so agencies could make it available for third party use. According to FHWA’s web site the intent was “to make travel on public roads safer and more efficient through ubiquitous access to data on work zone activity. Specifically, the project aims to get data on work zones into vehicles to help automated driving systems (ADS) and human drivers navigate more safely.”

“Now that the WZDx protocol has been built and stabilized, it needs to mature into an actual national standard, with a standards committee that has a formal process for gradual updates.”