GETTING THE MESSAGE ACROSS. SYSTEMS OF COMMUNICATION WITH DRIVERS

One of the major problems of dealing with disruption of traffic flows on motorways is that of conveying information and directions to very large numbers of road users. Different means are required to reach recipients at short, medium and long ranges. This paper deals with a history of motorway communications leading to present policies for information distribution to drivers both on a pre-planned basis and for emergency purposes. The mechanics of information dissemination to drivers include a review of the sourcing, instrumentation availability, information origins, police control room organisation, electronic and other information facilities and systems of displaying messages or advice in various forms. There will also be an indication of the types of equipment available for dealing with emergency situations and reference to unique signing, especially at roadworks, used to convey directions or information and provide a greater degree of safety for both motorway users and operational personnel. Difficulties have been experienced in the degree of compliance with various message displays and experience in this field is reviewed with details of the percentage success rate, drawbacks in existing systems, a review of recent experiments and some ideas for future development. Other European systems are briefly referred to for comparison purposes. (Author/TRRL)

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0860501124
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was presented at Seminar K, Traffic Operation and Management, held at the PTRC 11th Annual Summer Meeting, University of Sussex, England, 4-7 July, 1983.
• Corporate Authors:

  PTRC Education and Research Services Limited

  110 Strand
  London WC2,   England 
• Authors:
  • Harris, P
• Conference:
  • Planning & Transport Res & Comp, Sum Ann Mtg, Proc
• Publication Date: 1983

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 135-143

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Administration; Conferences; Construction sites; Detection and identification; Detectors; Driver information systems; Electronics; Equipment; Freeways; Information display systems; Information dissemination; Instrumentation; Near midair crashes; Police; Radio; State of the art reports; Surveillance; Telecommunications; Television; Traffic control; Traffic signals; Traffic signs; Variable message signs; Variables; Work zone traffic control
• Old TRIS Terms: Displays
• ITRD Terms: 155: Administration; 8525: Conference; 3628: Construction site; 9115: Detection; 6965: Electronics; 3674: Equipment; 2752: Motorway; 1642: Near miss; 1522: Police; 6947: Radio; 8588: State of the art report; 9101: Surveillance; 6949: Television; 654: Traffic control; 553: Traffic sign; 565: Traffic signal; 9086: Variability
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Security and Emergencies; Vehicles and Equipment; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning; I73: Traffic Control; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00382694
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• ISBN: 0-86050-112-4
• Report/Paper Numbers: Volume P240
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 30 1984 12:00AM