Public opinion and understanding of advance warning arrow displays used in short-term, mobile, and moving work zones.

Details

• Creators:
  Schrock, Steven D. ; See, Chen Fei ; Mulinazzi, Thomas E.
• Corporate Creators:
  University of Kansas. Dept. of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering
• Corporate Contributors:
  Smart Work Zone Deployment Initiative
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Arrows (Signals) Flashing Arrow Displays, Focus Groups, Work Zone Public Opinion Warning Signals Work Zone Safety Work Zone Traffic Control
• Publication/ Report Number:
  45110-1
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  Smart Work Zone Deployment Initiative
• Abstract:
  "In long-term work zones on multilane highways and/or freeways, the Federal Highway Administration has interpreted the
  
  Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices to mean that only one advance warning arrow displays can be used to denote
  
  the closure of a single lane. Where two or more lanes are closed, a single arrow display is used for each lane to be closed.
  
  However, in short duration, mobile, and moving work convoys the MUTCD allows the use of multiple arrow displays to
  
  indicate a single lane closure. These disparate uses for arrow displays create the potential for confusion by drivers.
  
  This paper describes the results of four focus group interviews with Midwestern drivers. Participants were shown several
  
  mocked images of shadow work vehicles with arrow displays and were questioned on how well they understood and/or
  
  interpreted the message conveyed by arrow displays depending on the display type and quantity of displays used, and
  
  looked specifically for potential driver confusion.
  
  Focus group participants generally considered panel displays that included motion (e.g., sequential arrows and sequential
  
  chevrons) as implying a more important situation and preferred their use over flashing versions. While participants were
  
  receptive to the use of multiple arrow displays on multiple shadow vehicles, a minority indicated that this conveyed a need
  
  to move over more than one lane. Participants also indicated that staggering sequential shadow vehicles from the shoulder
  
  into the closed lane provided useful information as to the number and location of the closed lanes."
  
  
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  SWZDI Contract #09011
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:dafe60542be525b1a05f0082da0ca2567b2cb4ca3552543ffb95476a461c02859a540dbdaaa7c0fcb9ea01542f3131538dd685ae62cbe6d7431f58cbd65d8d48
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/23508/dot_23508_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 644.97 KB ]