Connected Corridors

The National Highway System supports our economy, safety, and daily travel. But delays that are caused by planned activities, like work zones and events, or unexpected problems, like crashes and bad weather, interrupt its function. Both transportation workers and travelers need accurate, up-to-date information, but this can be hard to get due to:

• Information spread across too many separate data sources
• No shared standards for data quality
• Service providers must build special systems for each agency, which makes scaling them difficult
• Agency rules can slow down the use of shared, subscription-based services
• Many tools can’t connect or don’t work together
• New solutions often stay local instead of spreading nationwide

The Connected Corridors initiative tackles these challenges by encouraging states to work in a coordinated, shared approach, not by replacing or merging their systems. It promotes reliable data sharing, encourages common quality standards, and supports scalable services that can work well with other systems, while ensuring each agency retains control over its own data and platforms.

A Shared Approach to Situational Awareness

While States have individual stewardship over their own transportation assets, managing the nation's transportation network as a whole is a shared endeavor. Operational disruptions in one state can have ripple effects in adjacent states and across the country. Efficient Interstate travel demands a shared situational awareness among Infrastructure Owner/Operators and the traveling public that transcends siloed state information repositories.

The Connected Corridors initiative leverages the power of data exchange as a foundation for breaking down jurisdictional barriers to operations intelligence. This innovation begins with community-driven data standards and common data governance practices that agencies agree to follow so their separate systems can "speak the same language" and share trusted, real-time information.

Connected Corridors leverages data exchange in several key areas:

• Communicating information on work zone activity using the Connected Work Zone (CWZ) Standard (which formalizes the Work Zone Data Exchange (WZDx) specification), developed in open collaboration between FHWA, State and Local government, and private sector data services interests in the transportation industry.
• Developing similar data specifications targeting incidents, weather alerts, and planned special events.
• Encouraging State and Local transportation agencies to publish data feeds corresponding to standards and specifications
• Allowing data exchange solutions to coordinate transportation management decisions between agencies at digital speed.

Benefits

• Increased Safety. Agencies get a clearer view of real-time highway conditions, which helps travelers choose safer routes, and work zone data such as WZDX and CWZ improves visibility for road workers and drivers.
• Innovation. Shared, standardized data makes it easier to support technologies like V2X (vehicles and infrastructure communicating with each other), as well as automation and artificial intelligence. These tools depend on accurate data, which is required by 23 CFR Part 511, the federal rule that establishes the provisions and parameters for the Real-Time System Management Information Program by which States gather and make available the data for traffic and travel conditions.
• Economic Value. Data and services meeting collaboratively-developed standards are safer, easier to connect to, and ready for nationwide use. This helps agencies pool resources to develop shared solutions, makes it easier for third-party developers to create new apps and services, and makes it easier to develop resources to deliver critical traveler information to the public.
• Operational Efficiency. Leveraging data exchanges helps agencies move away from slow, manual work by automating how data is collected and shared, making it easier to coordinate with partners and share information across States.

State of Practice

Existing efforts bring together State and Local agencies, corridor coalitions, national organizations, and USDOT offices to improve data sharing for interstate corridors. FHWA champions the vision and convenes agencies and industry participants, while partner organizations and agencies lead the development and implementation.

Key Partners and activities:

• State and Local Governments: 35 states are currently publishing standardized work zone data using the Connected Work Zone (CWZ) and Work Zone Data Exchange (WZDx) specifications, with additional states in the process of evaluating feed performance. Many are also contributing to the development of new data specifications for incident and weather event reporting. States are actively investing in Pooled Fund Studies aimed at advancing Connected Corridors initiatives.
• National and International Organizations: ITE—A Community of Transportation Professionals (ITE) serves as the Standards Developing Organization responsible for maintaining the CWZ specification. AASHTO, ITS America, and ITE collectively represent the shared interests of states in building a nationally coherent strategy for operations data integration and the broad deployment of standardized data feeds such as CWZ.
• Interstate Corridor Coalitions: The I‑80 Corridor Coalition, I‑35 Corridor Coalition, and the Eastern Transportation Coalition are actively engaged in advancing the use of operational data exchanges. These coalitions champion data governance principles to improve the quality, accuracy, security, and trustworthiness of shared transportation data.
• Intra‑departmental U.S. DOT Partners: The ITS Joint Program Office, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST‑R) collaborate to advance transportation safety and efficiency across USDOT.

Disclaimer: Except for the statutes and regulations cited, the contents of this document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the States or the public in any way. This document is intended only to provide information regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies. The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers' names appear in this document only because they are considered essential to the objective of the document. They are included for informational purposes only and are not intended to reflect a preference, approval, or endorsement of any one product or entity.