Beverly Kuhn

MODEL GUIDELINES FOR VISIBILITY OF ON-PREMISE ADVERTISEMENT SIGNS

On-premise advertising signs play an important role in directing drivers. Well-placed and well-designed on-premise advertising signs can guide vehicle operators toward their destinations with minimal demand for attention. Poor placement of signs can sap a driver’s cognitive and perceptual resources, resulting in erratic maneuvers such as inappropriate slowing and lane changing. Increasingly, however, the visibility of on-premise advertising signs is being determined not by human factors researchers, visibility experts, or traffic engineers but by local planning and zoning officials, who lack specialized training in relevant fields. Regulations affecting on-premise sign visibility characteristics, such as means of illumination, lateral offset, and sign size, have been established mainly on the basis of arguments for improved aesthetic appeal and of vague, often unsubstantiated safety claims. There is a clear need to determine, from scientific and ergonomic perspectives, the effects these regulations have on sign visibility and traffic safety. An organized synthesis of existing literature on sign visibility based on 60 years of research and consisting of more than 150 journal articles and technical reports is presented. The synthesis may be used by sign designers to optimize the visual effectiveness of their signs. It also can provide a scientific basis for the development of new on-premise sign regulations or changes to existing regulations. A model set of guidelines for designing and locating on-premise advertisement signs for conspicuity and legibility is provided.

Effectiveness of Different Approaches to Disseminating Traveler Information on Travel Time Reliability

A key component to addressing the reliability issue related to urban mobility is conveying this reliability-related information to system users so that they can make informed decisions about their travel. The goal of the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP 2) L14 project, Effectiveness of Different Approaches to Disseminating Traveler Information on Travel Time Reliability, is to examine what combination of words, numbers, and other features of user information messages, along with communications methods and technology platforms, best communicate information about travel time and reliability to travelers so they can make optimal travel choices from their point of view, such as whether to take a trip, departure time, mode choice, and route choice. This final report documents the research conducted as part the SHRP 2 L14 project. One of the main work products from the L14 project is the Lexicon for Conveying Travel Time Reliability Information, which offers recommendations to system operators on appropriate ways to provide travel time reliability information to travelers so that the information is most likely to be understood and used by travelers to influence their travel choices. The research team identified several key elements of a lexicon entry that were deemed necessary to completely present each term and how it might be used within the transportation community. One purpose of this final report is to describe the process that led to the development of the lexicon. The research began with a literature review to document existing practices and lessons learned regarding the communication of both travel and non-travel-related reliability information. The team then focused on conducting expert interviews and a technology and innovation scan to further examine the state of the practice in communicating information to travelers. The team also conducted a series of human factors experiments, including focus groups and surveys, to assess travelers’ comprehension and preferences for various reliability-related words and phrases. Finally, two laboratory experiments developed a utility function for travel time reliability information by observing participants’ use of reliability information during simulated commute trips and soliciting their opinions about the monetary value of that information. The lexicon was developed as the final task of this project.

Development of Active Management Screening Tool

This paper summarizes an FHWA-directed project for the development of an active management screening tool (AMST) for agencies with congestion management process planning tools. The purpose of the AMST is to help those agencies better assess the potential of active management strategies for their region within the congestion management process. Furthermore, the AMST is structured to provide beneficial information and general guidance related to active management strategies in all areas and levels of transportation planning. The tool directly links the transportation planning process with operations by providing regional managers with information about operational strategies that they may find most beneficial to include in their plan for the regional transportation network. The AMST ascertains, at the appropriate screening level, major attributes about candidate corridors that help determine the suitability and appropriateness of an active management strategy. In successive steps the AMST ascertains the best strategy and its companion support that will enhance the facilitys and programs responsiveness to the mobility, safety, and environmental needs of the corridor. Active management strategies included in the tool are high-occupancy vehicle lanes, high-occupancy toll lanes, express toll lanes, nontolled express lanes, exclusive or dedicated truck lanes, exclusive transitways, temporary shoulder use on freeways, speed harmonization, queue warning, dynamic rerouting and traveler information, ramp metering, dynamic merge control, and automated enforcement.

Lexicon for Conveying Travel Time Reliability Information

The primary goal of Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP 2) Reliability research is to improve the reliability of highway travel times by mitigating the effects of events that cause travel times to fluctuate unpredictably. A key component to addressing the reliability issue related to urban mobility is conveying reliability-related information to system users so that they can make informed decisions about their travel. The goal of the SHRP 2 L14 project, Effectiveness of Different Approaches to Disseminating Traveler Information on Travel Time Reliability, is to examine what combination of words, numbers, and other features of user information messages, along with communications methods and technology platforms, best communicate information about travel time and reliability to travelers so that they can make optimal travel choices from their point of view, such as whether to take a trip, departure time, mode choice, and route choice. This lexicon is one of the main L14 project work products. It offers recommendations to system operators on appropriate ways to provide travel time reliability information to travelers so that the information is most likely to be understood and used by travelers to influence their travel choices. On the basis of the results of human factors studies and current traffic engineering practices regarding communicating to drivers, recommendations were made in the lexicon for using the following terms related to travel time reliability: 95th percentile, arrival time, average travel time, buffer time, delay time, departure time, free-flow travel time, peak travel time, planning time, planning time index, recommended departure time, recommended route, and reliability. There is also input from a literature review, expert interviews, and a technology and innovation scan done as part of the research project. For each of the travel time reliability terms listed, the lexicon includes a technical travel time reliability term, the definition of the term or concept within the reliability framework, a description of when or for what purpose an agency might use the term, and recommendations for terminology, phrases, or graphics to be used, in order of preference. Finally, the lexicon identifies appropriate media and technology interfaces for each listed term, phrase, or graphic.

STATE LEGISLATIVE ISSUES FOR MANAGED LANES IN TEXAS

The managed lane concept is currently being considered on major free way projects in Texas cities. The term managed lanes encompasses a variety of facility types, including high-occupancy vehicle lanes, high-occupancy toll lanes, single-occupancy vehicle express lanes, special-use lanes, and truck lanes. The premise of the managed lanes concept is to increase freeway efficiency and provide free-flow operations for certain freeway users by packaging various operational and design strategies. The strategies deployed offer the flexibility to be adjusted to match changing corridor and regional goals. Research undertaken in Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) research project Operating Freeways with Managed Lanes, which assessed state legislative needs necessary for Texas to legally and successfully implement the various types of managed lane facilities across the state, is discussed. Texas statutes may require changes in various areas to allow the implementation of managed lanes, including defining managed lanes as an operational concept in Texas, authorizing entities to develop managed lane facilities for congestion mitigation purposes, allowing entities operational flexibility with managed lane facilities, authorizing entities to develop exclusive lane facilities for congestion mitigation purposes, authorizing TxDOT to establish lane restrictions for congestion mitigation purposes, removing the time-of-day limitation on current municipal authorization for lane restrictions, and making the unlawful violation of any managed lane facility in Texas punishable by fine.