PMSS Project Details

Project ID:	FHWA-PROJ-10-0041
Project Name:	Driver Expectations When Navigating Complex Interchanges
Status:	Completed
Contact:	Last Name: Shurbutt First Name: Jim Telephone: 202-493-3420 E-mail: jimmy.shurbutt@dot.gov
Organization:	Federal Highway Administration - Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC)
Office:	Office of Safety Research and Development
Team:	Human Factors Team
Roadmap/Focus area(s):	Not Applicable
Project Description:	Multiple focus groups were presented with various signing and then asked to interpret the signing. They were also asked to decide if they were in a certain travel lane, en route to a certain destination, would a lane change be required.
Laboratories:	Not Applicable
Start Date:	September 1, 2010
End Date:	September 13, 2012
Funding Amount:	$199,633.00
FHWA Program Name:	Safety Innovation Deployment
Goals:	The key project objective is to better understand driver expectations as they approach complex interchanges based on signing.
Project Type:	Offsite
Background Information:	Data not yet available
Test Methodology:	Focus Groups
Other Information:	Data not yet available
Partners:	Data not yet available
More Information URL(s):
Fieldtest:	Data not yet available
Expected Benefits:	The expected benefit is the ability to better design directional signing that delivers a better message with more accurate and intuitive information, as well as overall design of interchanges.
Deliverables:	Name: Final report. Product Type(s): Research report Description: The deliverable is a final report containing recommendations for navigation signage to aid complex interchange design. Audiences: Academics, Federal Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center staff, Other highway agencies, Researchers, Safety planners, Safety researchers, State departments of transportation, State highway agencies, Traffic engineers Secondary Audiences:
Related URL(s):
Project Findings:	Drivers expect that there will be functional relationships between lanes on the roadway and arrows/text on signs, and that the signs themselves will make these relationships clear. Drivers expect that the distance between a guide sign and a “last chance” decision point will be sufficient to allow for making any necessary lane changes in a safe and timely manner. Drivers expect that they will have more than one opportunity to obtain necessary destination and lane information before they need to make a final decision regarding lane choices. Drivers expect that the freeway system—lanes, arrows and text on signs, lane markings, etc.—will provide them with the necessary information to construct a mental model and that it will be sufficient to support timely and accurate decisions about lane choice. Drivers expect that the information available to them through the freeway system will be sufficient to support decisions about lane choices; at the least, they will never have to move over more than one lane at the last moment. Drivers expect that the freeway system will provide sufficient information to support decisions about all route choices, not just frequent or popular choices.
FHWA Topics:	Safety--Transportation Safety Planning (TSP)
TRT Terms:	Interchanges Safety Signs Research Human Factors Design
FHWA Disciplines:	Design Operations Safety
Subject Areas:	Highways Research Safety and Human Factors