What Are Work Zone 

Performance Measures?

Work zone performance measures are metrics 

that help quantify how work zones impact

travelers, residents, businesses, and workers. 

Some performance measures describe how an

individual work zone impacts these audiences; other 

performance measures describe how a group of work 

zones collectively affects them. 

Why Are Work Zone Performance 

Measures Needed?

Work zone performance measures are a key 

component of an agency’s continuous improvement 

program. Performance measures can help agencies 

identify where improvements are needed, verify that 

changes in agency policy and practices to improve 

performance have worked, and assist agencies in 

communicating with the public and elected officials 

about the actual effects of work zones.

What Is Needed to Initiate a Work Zone 

Performance Measurement Program?

Although initiating a work zone performance 

measurement program can seem daunting at first 

glance, it need not be an overwhelming activity for an 

agency or contractor. The key steps are to determine:

•	What measures are needed.

•	 How to get the data needed to compute them.

•	 How to best interpret and use them as part of one’s

day-to-day business practices.

Three FHWA documents have been 

developed to assist agencies and 

contractors in selecting and using work 

zone performance measures.

FHWA-HOP-13-014

Resources on

Work Zone Safety

and

Mobility Performance 

Monitoring and 

Measurement

Where Can I Find 

These Documents?

A Primer on Work Zone 

Safety and Mobility 

Performance Measurement

FHWA-HOP-11-033,

September 2011

http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/

wz/resources/publications/

fhwahop11033/fhwahop11033.pdf

Work Zone Performance 

Measures Pilot Test

FHWA-HOP-11-022, April 2011

http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/

wz/resources/publications/

fhwahop11022/fhwahop11022.pdf

Guidance on Data 

Needs, Availability, and 

Opportunities for Work Zone 

Performance Measures

FHWA-HOP-13-011, March 2013 

http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/

wz/resources/publications/

fhwahop13011/fhwahop13011.pdf
A Primer on Work Zone Safety and 

Mobility Performance Measurement

FHWA-HOP-11-033, September 2011

This document “sets the stage” for agencies and 

contractors on how to get started on a work zone 

safety and mobility performance measurement 

program. It explains the difference between measures 

that represent project-level impacts and those that 

represent agency program-level impacts. The Primer 

provides suggestions to aid agencies in initiating 

work zone performance measurement and deciding 

what characteristics constitute a good performance 

measure.

The Primer lists a range of possible performance 

measures that agencies could consider using, along 

with some considerations for using them. Three basic 

types of measures are discussed:

•	 Exposure measures.

•	 Safety measures.

•	 Mobility measures.

Examples of some of the ways in which the measures

could be assessed (via collected data, traffic simulation 

models, computational procedures, etc.) are also 

provided. 

Work Zone Performance 

Measures Pilot Test

FHWA-HOP-11-022, April 2011

This document is a companion to the Primer, 

and summarizes the lessons learned through the 

identification and testing of a candidate set of work 

zone mobility-related performance measures at five 

projects nationally. 

Three different types of field data collection were 

attempted and compared at each site:

•	 Manual documentation of queue duration and

length by field crews.

•	 Collection and analysis of

traffic surveillance sensor 

data, either from a regional 

management center (TMC)

or a portable work zone 

intelligent transportation system (ITS).

•	 Examination of third-party probe vehicle data

collected in the vicinity and during the time that the 

work zone was present.

Guidance on Data Needs, Availability, 

and Opportunities for Work 

Zone Performance Measures

FHWA-HOP-13-011, March 2013

Performance measures should:

✓Relate to the safety and mobility goals and 

objectives of an agency;

✓Be consistent with measures used to assess 

impacts during work zone planning and 

design;

✓Enable the agency to fully characterize work 

zone impacts;

✓Enable the agency to evaluate the effects of 

strategies to mitigate the impacts; and

✓Be compatible with other performance 

measures an agency is using to evaluate its 

system.

Examples of Some Lessons Learned:

✓Agencies need an operational definition 

of a “queue” (typically an average speed 

threshold) so that all personnel assess queues 

consistently

✓ Manual data collection techniques are less 

effective in capturing short disturbances that 

result in queues

✓The accuracy of work zone measures from 

TMC data depends heavily on traffic sensor 

spacing and location relative to the work zone

✓The percent time when queues exceed 

agency-established queue thresholds is a 

useful performance measure

✓The percent of vehicles encountering a queue 

is also a useful measure of work zone impacts 

This third document in the series is designed to provide 

more in-depth information and guidance on the 

types of work zone safety and mobility performance 

measures practitioners deem useful, and the data 

needed to develop and use those measures to improve 

agency and contractor practices. An expert panel of 

practitioners identified and prioritized the importance 

and value of possible measures within each of four 

major work zone performance categories:

•	 Mobility.

•	 Safety.

•	 Customer satisfaction.

•	 Agency and/or contractor efficiency and productivity.

The Guide describes data needed to (1) compute 

measures, (2) evaluate work zone exposure, and 

(3) stratify data to describe when and where the work 

zone impacts are occurring. The Guide identifies 

methods of obtaining data and summarizes key 

considerations associated with each type of data.

State-of-the-Art Data Sources and Uses:

Bluetooth addressmatching and vehicle-tovehicle communications

Work zone performance 

measure “dashboards” 

3rd party (private-sector) 

traveler information