Department Overview  

Copyright © 2001
Department of Transportation Studies
Texas Southern University

SYNTHESIS REPORT ON CHANGEABLE MESSAGE SIGNS THAT DEPICT SYMBOLS AND WORDS

Principal Investigator:    Dr. Lei Yu

Sponsoring Agency:    Federal Highway Administration DTFH61-01-R-000126

Period:    August 24, 2001 ~ May 24, 2002

Research Objective:

The objectives of the project are to evaluate the effectiveness and driver response to various Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) signs, especially work zone symbol and word messages, displayed on these changeable message signs (CMS). The project will also identify areas of compliance and/or non-compliance with specific provisions of the MUTCD on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. (MUTCD).

List of Tasks:

The following is a list of all main tasks and sub-tasks of the project.

 Task 1 Identification of CMS

Task 1.1 Identify companies of CMS

Task 1.2 Develop a survey instrument

Task 1.3 Conduct the survey

Task 2 Development and maintenance of survey database

Task 2.1 Design database

Task 2.2 Implement database

Task 2.3 Maintain database

Task 3 Evaluation of effectiveness of CMS

Task 3.1 Evaluate based on existing literature

Task 3.2 Evaluate based on combined data

Task 4 Evaluation of CMS vs MUTCD

Task 5 Documentation of Findings

Task 6 Recommendation of MUTCD and identification of research needs

Task 6.1 Recommend for MUTCD

  Task 6.2 Identify research needs

Research Information

For further information about the research, please contact Dr. Lei Yu by telephone at (713) 313-7282 or by e-mail at yu_lx@tsu.edu.