Managing road construction projects, whether they involve capital and improvement works or a series of high-pressure maintenance projects, shares a few common challenges. You've got deadlines to meet, stakeholders to update, and a community to keep informed and satisfied.

In the past, coordinating all this communication might have felt like herding cats, but in the era of smart work zones, companies like Mooven are making it easy. More than six years ago, Mooven began using smart, dynamic message boards with customers, and here are three reasons why our customers can't stop talking about it:

1. Safety Takes the Lead

When communicating road work zones to the public, it automatically brings to mind travel disruption. The chosen route may no longer guarantee timely arrival, leading to frustration and, at times, even anger—think rush-hour road rage. While the old messaging of "expect delays" was useful for flagging upcoming traffic and slower speeds, it wasn't always reliable or informative, often causing further frustration. This poses a significant safety risk for the public and construction crews alike.

Mooven's smart VMS and smart work zone platform can enhance safety with conditional messaging based on speed. Practical examples include displaying current speeds through the worksite to slow approaching traffic, notifying when queues are present to reduce the risk of nose-to-tail accidents, and triggering speed messages when crews are active or worksite speeds exceed safe limits.

Furthermore, the benefits of intelligent transportation systems in work zones are well-documented. In a study cited by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, a traffic diversion strategy effectively reduced mainline traffic volume by 1% to 28%, with an average reduction of 10%. By providing delay information and actively diverting traffic, this approach lessened the demand for restricted mainline capacity, ultimately enhancing safety for both motorists and construction crews.

Integrating findings like these into our smart VMS platform allows us to continually improve safety measures and mitigate risks on road construction sites and to motorists.

2. Perception Management to Reduce Complaints

Keeping the community informed can feel like navigating a pressure cooker, especially when complaints hit the press, customer metrics spiral downward, or your project garners unwanted attention. When the public, media, or large community groups scrutinize projects, having information readily available and accessible to all is crucial. The trust built through transparency goes a long way.

One way to view this is as motorists ourselves - a benefit of working in road infrastructure is that you always have the opportunity to also be in the customer's shoes.

"Imagine this, you're driving down a busy highway and encountering a construction zone. Instead of being frustrated by the lack of information, you see a digital display informing you about expected real-time delays and alternate detour routes. Instantly, your experience shifts from frustration to understanding and empowerment"

"One of our customers recently saw a drop from over 100 complaints a week to less than 10," said Blake Hill, Account Executive at Mooven, highlighting the power of our Smart VMS platform. Part of our mission at Mooven is to make the management of public perception and experience as smooth as a newly paved highway.

An Ohio University study led by Dr. Helmut Zwahlen found that almost 97% of motorists found live travel advice useful (Federal Highway Administration). Simply communicating current travel times is often enough to dramatically shrink the number of complaints.

3. Live Travel Advice - Arm the Public, Without the Hardware Install

Wouldn't you prefer to avoid road work altogether? When considering detours, the status quo relies on a single fixed route set up with static signs. While useful, this approach has drawbacks. All traffic is redirected onto a single path, often not designed for such volume, and it's impractical to adjust the detour based on traffic patterns.

Here's where Mooven's advanced rules engine comes in, pushing dynamic live travel advice to VMS boards. Instead of defining a single path, multiple approved options can be considered if live messaging adjusts to steer traffic down the fastest detour.

Our no-hardware options are great for these scenarios as they enable teams to consider a wide range of destinations while reaping the benefit of low setup costs and real-time deployment with the need for putting workers in harm's way. Alternatively, some customers have integrated Mooven's power of data-agnostic crowdsourced data inputs alongside their existing hardware.

With real-time updates and dynamic detour information at their fingertips, drivers can navigate with confidence, saving time and reducing congestion.

With Mooven's smart messaging, you can:

• Dynamically switch preferred detour routes based on the live travel times, ensuring you always suggest the optimal route;

• Bias certain detours until congestion hits a defined threshold - often stakeholders have a preferred route.

• Configure messaging to only run at certain times or trigger based on other variables.

• Improve safety with conditional messaging based on speed;

• Display live journey time without the need for extra hardware. Find out more about smart VMS here.

Consider the Future of Customer Experience in Road Infrastructure

As technology advances, so do the public's expectations. Today's motorists don't just want to get from point A to point B; they want a smooth, hassle-free journey. By providing real-time updates and transparent communication, we're not just meeting these expectations; we're exceeding them.

Uniting External Messaging with Internal Stakeholder Messaging

We've touched on public perception but arming internal teams and stakeholders with easy access to transparent information about your project can speed up the feedback loop and save time on internal reporting and communication loops. Strengthening the customer experience of internal customers.

Mooven facilitates seamless communication with stakeholders through various means: downloadable scorecards, SMS alerts, easy access to our live platform, publically sharable links, recorded annotations and more.

From engineers to contractors to government agencies, everyone involved in the project can stay connected and informed. This not only streamlines operations but also fosters collaboration and accountability, driving productivity and efficiency.

With Mooven, our customers now have the power to disseminate information swiftly and efficiently, both externally to the public and internally to stakeholders.

Looking ahead, myself and the team at Mooven are excited about the future of customer experience in the road infrastructure sector. As technology continues to evolve, so too will the ways in which we interact with and serve our customers. We see a wider range of opportunities to share timely and relevant content through existing channels like social media and connected vehicles. By embracing innovation and leveraging the power of connectivity, we can create a future where road infrastructure projects are not only efficient but also enriching experiences for all involved.

- Micah Gabriels, CEO and Co-founder of Mooven

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