Work Zone and Field Crew Safety

Caltrans field crews work in high-risk roadway environments every day to maintain, repair, improve, and operate California’s transportation system. These environments may include active work zones, maintenance activities, lane closures, shoulders, ramps, intersections, emergency response locations, and other field conditions where workers are near live traffic.

Work zone and field crew safety continues to be a critical priority for the Department. Drivers may not always recognize workers, equipment, lane closures, traffic control devices, congestion, dark signals, pedestrians, bicyclists, or changing roadway conditions in time to respond safely. Existing signs, lights, barriers, and traffic control devices play an important role in protecting Caltrans workers and guiding the traveling public, but there may be opportunities to improve visibility, driver awareness, worker protection, and real-time communication in the field.

Caltrans is seeking solutions that improve visibility, driver awareness, worker protection, and real-time safety alerts in work zones and along the transportation network.

Solutions may address one or more of the following objectives:

• Improve field crew protection by enhancing the tools, equipment, barriers, alerts, or safety systems used to protect Caltrans workers near live traffic.
• Enhance visibility and driver awareness by improving how drivers see, understand, and respond to work zones, field crews, lane closures, traffic control devices, and other roadway hazards.
• Support real-time safety alerts and communication through technologies or systems that notify field crews, supervisors, traffic operations staff, or drivers when a potential safety risk is present.
• Improve practical field deployment by providing solutions that are durable, portable, easy to set up, and usable by maintenance, construction, and emergency response crews in different roadway, weather, and lighting conditions.
• Support statewide scalability by demonstrating how the solution could be applied across multiple districts, roadway types, work zone conditions, and field operations.

Improve safety for Caltrans field crews and the traveling public by reducing work zone and field operation risks. Caltrans seeks solutions that enhance visibility, strengthen driver awareness, improve worker protection, support real-time safety communication, and provide practical tools that can be implemented across the statewide transportation network.