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https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27432/critical-issues-in-transportation-for-2024-and-beyond

COMPUTER SIMPLIFIES SIGN INVENTORY

THE CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS HAS ADOPTED A COMPUTERIZED PUBLIC INFORMATION SYSTEM IN WHICH THE TRAFFIC ENGINEERING DIVISION HAS INCLUDED A SIGN INVENTORY SUBSYSTEM. THE OBJECTIVES ARE TO (1) OBTAIN ACCURATE FIGURES ON THE TOTAL NUMBER OF SIGNS OF A GIVEN MESSAGE IN EACH MAINTENANCE AREA, (2) USE THESE TOTALS IN SCHEDULING REPLACEMENT PROGRAMS, MAINTAINING STOCKS, AND BUDGETING FOR REPLACEMENT AND MAINTENANCE PROGRAMS, (3) EXPEDITE REPORTS ON SIGNING IN ANY BLOCK, (4) DETERMINE QUICKLY THE ORIGINAL LOCATION OF DISCARDED OR STOLEN SIGNS TURNED INTO THE TRAFFIC ENGINEERING DIVISION, (5) TO AID IN A REVIEW OF THE CITY'S SIGNING SYSTEM FOR PURPOSES OF STANDARDIZING SIZES, SHAPES, COLOR CODING, AND MESSAGES, AND (6) HELP COMPLY WITH THE REVISED FEDERAL MANUAL ON UNIFORM TRAFFIC DEVICES. DATA COLLECTION STARTED BY DIVIDING THE CITY INTO ZONES AND CLASSIFYING THE STREETS. ALL INVENTORIES WERE MADE IN THE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL, WITH DISTANCES BEING MEASURED TO WITHIN THE NEAREST FOOT. A UNIQUE NUMBER IS ASSIGNED TO EACH SIGN AND RECORDED ON ITS BACK. THE SIGN INVENTORY REPORT FOR EACH BLOCK LISTS SIGN NUMBER, LOCATION, DISTANCE FROM START OF BLOCK, MATERIAL, COLOR, SIZE, MOUNTING TYPE, MESSAGE TYPE, ETC.. THE DATA ELEMENTS CAN BE MANIPULATED IN A VARIETY OF WAYS TO GENERATE REPORTS OF DIFFERENT DESCRIPTIONS. WITH 80% OF THE CITY COVERED, ARTERIAL STREETS AVE BEEN FOUND TO CONTAIN 20,000 SIGNS AND RESIDENTIAL STREETS 12,000. A TOTAL OF 663 DIFFERENT SIGN MESSAGES HAVE BEEN FOUND.

Media Info

  • Features: Photos;
  • Pagination: p. 16-19
  • Serial:

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Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00226461
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Jan 29 1973 12:00AM