A MEASURE OF THE DELINEATION POTENTIAL OF COLORED PAVEMENT

THIS PAPER PRESENTS THE RESULTS OF A STUDY DESIGNED TO ESTABLISH A QUANTATIVE MEASURE OF COLOR CONTRAST AND TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF SIX INDEPENDENT VARIABLES ON THIS MEASURE. THIS MEASURE, CALLED THE "CHROMATICITY VECTOR", WAS DEFINED AS A FUNCTION OF STANDARD CHROMATICITY CHARTS, AND WAS FOUND TO RELIABLY INDICATE A SUBJECTS ABILITY TO DIFFERENTIATE TWO COLORS. THE SIX INDEPENDENT VARIABLES USED IN THE TESTING WERE (A) PAVEMENT COLOR, (B) TYPE OF LIGHTING, (C) EFFECT OF RAIN, (D) BEAD SIZE AND TYPE, (E) ANGLE OF INCIDENCE OF THE SOURCE LIGHT, AND (F) SIMULATED WEAR AND WEATHER EXPOSURE. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EACH OF THE FIRST FIVE VARIABLES AND THE CHROMATICITY VECTOR IS DETERMINED AND PRESENTED IN THE PAPER. THE RESULTS OF THE ANALYSES INDICATE THAT THE PROPER SELECTION OF COLOR COMBINATIONS AND LIGHTING CAN INCREASE THE POTENTIAL FOR DIFFERENTIATING COLORS BY A RATIO OF 3 TO 1; THE PROBLEMS OF NIGHT VISIBILITY CAN BE PARTIALLY COUNTERACTED BY THE APPLICATION OF BEADS; AND THE COLOR CONTRAST VECTOR APPROACHES ZERO WHEN THE PAVEMENT IS COVERED WITH A WATER FILM. THIS QUANTITATIVE MEASURE CAN BE USED TO DESCRIBE THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF VARIOUS POTENTIAL TREATMENTS AND THUS AID IN THE SELECTION OF THE MOST COST-EFFECTIVE TREATMENT THAT MEETS DESIGNATED STANDARDS OF CONTRAST. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1971/377/377-009.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309019923
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Sponsored by Committee on Visibility. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • TAYLOR, W
  • Datta, T
• Publication Date: 1971

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 103-117
• Monograph Title: Visibility
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 377
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Color; Color vision; Highway delineators; Highway design; Retroreflection; Road markings; Visibility
• Old TRIS Terms: Highway delineation; Retrodirective reflection; Traffic marking
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00221662
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309019923
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-011 999
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: May 22 1972 12:00AM