Display of Website Addresses on Portable Changeable Message Signs

A fixed-presentation time laptop study was conducted to assess whether the posting of agency website addresses results in increased information workload relative to the presentation of a more generic “go to agency website” type of message. Researchers evaluated a driver’s ability to recall and correctly comprehend information presented on the signs, changes in how those viewing the signs would access website information, and motorist preferences for agency website addresses versus the more generic message. The results of this study indicates that the presentation of a specific website address on a PCMS message does result in slightly lower recall and comprehension rates of that message relative to a more generic “go to the agency website” type of message. Not only is the specific website address recalled and comprehended less frequently, driver ability to recall and comprehend other parts of the message also appears to be degraded somewhat by the provision of a specific website address in the message. Together, these results suggest that the actual website address does place an additional information load on drivers, even if the website address itself is fairly simple and intuitive..

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AND20 User Information Systems.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Ullman, Gerald L
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 93rd Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC
  • Date: 2014-1-12 to 2014-1-16
• Date: 2014

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 17p
• Monograph Title: TRB 93rd Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Advanced traveler information systems; Automobile drivers; Cognition; Intelligent transportation systems; Memory; Technological innovations; Traveler information and communication systems; Variable message signs; Websites
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01520309
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 14-4019
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 27 2014 3:38PM