EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF DELINEATION TREATMENTS FOR SPECIAL-USE LANES

Results of a laboratory evaluation of 18 buffer-zone treatments designed to delineate special-use lanes on highways and arterials are reported. A slide presentation using a paired-comparison technique and a questionnaire were administered to 40 drivers to determine whether various delineation designs had any inherent permissive or prohibitive meaning and effect for driver entry into a given lane. The impact of several design parameters on the prohibitiveness and permissiveness of the various designs was evident: Any design that had repeated openings was clearly more permissive than treatments that included a continuous line, the stroke width of lines appeared to be relatively ineffectual, and colored treatments were somewhat more prohibitive than white ones, though by relatively small amounts. Questionnaire data were collected to supplement the paired-comparison data, and a Spearman rank correlation coefficient of r sub s = 0.93 indicated that the results of the two methods were highly complementary. Several design characteristics, including delineation width, effect of spacing or density of design symbols, and driver perception of where the vehicle can be stopped relative to the delineated special-use lane, require further definition and study. (Author)

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1980/782/782-006.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309031729
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on User Information Systems. 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:
  • Pain, Richard F
  • Knapp, Beverly G
• Conference:
  • 59th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1980-1-21 to 1980-1-25
• Publication Date: 1980

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 36-40
• Monograph Title: Human Factors and Motorist Information Needs
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 782
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Design; Drivers; High occupancy vehicle lanes; Highway delineators; Highway design; Reaction time; Road markings; Traffic lanes
• Uncontrolled Terms: Driver reaction
• Old TRIS Terms: Highway delineation; Reserved lanes; Traffic marking
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00335180
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309031729
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Sep 16 1981 12:00AM