Driver comprehension and operations evaluation of flashing yellow arrows.

Details

• Creators:
  Schattler, Kerrie L. ; Rietgraf, Ashley ; Burdett, Beau ; Lorton, William
• Corporate Creators:
  Illinois Center for Transportation
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Federal Highway Administration ; Illinois. Department of Transportation. Bureau of Materials and Physical Research
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Signalized intersections
  • Left turns
  • Yellow interval (Traffic signal cycle)
  • Arrows (Signals)
  • Permissive phasing
  • Implementation
  • Driver performance
  • Comprehension
  • Highway operations
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA-ICT-13-021;ICT-13-021;UILU-ENG-2013-2018
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Illinois
• Corporate Publisher:
  Illinois Center for Transportation
• Abstract:
  In spring 2010, the Illinois Department of Transportation initiated an areawide implementation of the flashing yellow ; arrow (FYA) as the display for the left-turn permissive interval at more than 100 intersections operating with ; protected/permissive left-turn (PPLT) control in the Peoria, Illinois, area. Bradley University researchers evaluated the ; effectiveness of FYAs on driver comprehension and traffic operations. A total of 363 drivers completed an online ; static survey that included seven left-turn scenarios that portrayed the protected and permissive indications of PPLT ; phasing, with the flashing modes being animated. The results of the survey indicated that drivers had a high ; comprehension of both the circular green (CG) and FYA permissive left-turn indications. However, the survey results ; provided evidence of some drivers’ misinterpreting the meaning of a permissive left-turn with CG display and ; incorrectly and unsafely interpreting the meaning as “go” under some circumstances. With supplemental traffic signs ; present, drivers’ understanding of the correct action to take when confronted with a FYA significantly increased, and ; the percentage of fail-critical, incorrect “go” responses significantly decreased. Before and after field observations, ; including 128 hours of data collected at 16 study approaches, were collected; and the following variables were ; investigated: critical gap, left-turn red-light running and yellow-light running, and traffic conflicts. Overall, the findings ; of this study suggest that drivers in the Peoria, Illinois, area had high comprehension and acceptance of the FYA ; message. Additionally, the FYA did not appear to have any negative impacts on traffic operations.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  R27-97
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/28166/dot_28166_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.09 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2c35cff4ebb74d487d5e80ba4f08496d1e6a14362f6edcfd84174c6e43cc55f1dc16c42bc3b214c971515a02dbce121f1e4dd78ef02580feda88863b749eae25