The Transportation Research Board Announces

17th Biennial Symposium on
Visibility and Traffic Control Devices

April 4-5, 2005
Keck Center of the National Academies, 500 Fifth Street NW, Washington, DC

Symposium
This conference is the latest in a series of topical meetings that began in 1968.  Traditionally hosted by the TRB Visibility Committee, this rendition of the Biennial Symposium is also being cosponsored by the following standing committees of the Transportation Research Board: Traffic Control Devices (TCDs), Signing and Marking Materials, Work Zone Traffic Control, Highway-Rail Grade Crossing and User Information Systems.

Registration, Hotel and Transportation Information (click this link for the latest information)

Conference Program

Day 1 - Monday, April 4

8:00-9:00 AM Registration & Continental Breakfast  
9:00-9:30 AM Welcome & Opening Remarks
Rich Cunard (TRB) & Frank Schieber (Visibility Committee)		  
9:30-11:30 AM Session 1:
Human Performance and Research Methods
Moderator: Helmut Zwahlen (Ohio University)

Fuat Aktan and Thomas Schnell
Operator Performance Lab, University of Iowa
Defining threshold and confident legibility contrast and luminance needs of nighttime drivers for achromatic and chromatic signs

Frank Schieber
Heimstra Human Factors Labs, University of South Dakota
Legibility distance as a function of sign luminance and static versus dynamic viewing

Andrew Holick
Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University
A model for determining the luminance needed for guide sign legibility

Dennis Couzin
Independent Consultant
Method for determining how a reflector's brightness should vary with distance

  
     
11:30-1:00 PM Lunch  
     
1:00-3:00 PM Session 2A:
Pavement Markings
Moderator: David Burns (3M Company)

Eric Donnell, Michael Pattern and Sudhakar Sathyanarayanan
Pennsylvania Transportation Institute, Penn State University
Synthesis of pavement marking management practices

Gregory Shay
Dow Chemical Company
Durable waterborne pavement markings: A cost-effective alternative

Neil Hodson
3M Traffic Safety Systems
Visibility and measurement of pavement markings in dry, wet and rainy environments

Chris Davies
Potters Industries
A field study of pavement marking performance measurement methods

Phil Garvey (Penn State), John Molino (SAIC), Ken Opiela (FHWA), Eric Donnell (Penn State), Bryan Katz (SAIC) & M. Joseph Moyer (FHWA)
Driver behavior measures of effectiveness for evaluating pavement markings

 Session 2B:
Traffic Control Device Design and Optimization
Moderator: Frank Schieber (University of South Dakota)

Gerald Ullman
Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University
Ensuring adequate viewing times for changeable message signs: What are appropriate design parameters?

K. Nguyen, L. Tammero and T. Cohn
Visual Detection Laboratory, University of California-Berkeley
Optimizing comprehension of changeable message signs

Norb Johnson
3M Traffic Safety Systems
"Percent drivers served" as a measure of on-road retroreflective sign performance

Fuat Aktan and Thomas Schnell
Operator Performance Laboratory, University of Iowa
Determining the requirements for yellow pavement markings with different chromaticity characteristics

 

 
     
3:00-3:30 PM Break  
     
3:30-5:30 PM Session 3A:
Sign Retroreflectivity
Moderator: Paul Carlson (Texas A&M University)

Roland Bremond, Vincent Ledoux and Giselle Paulmier
Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussees (FRANCE)
Psychometric assessment of possible legibility impairment with microprismatic retroreflective materials used for road signs

Rollie Bible
3M Traffic Safety Systems
A technology breakthrough in retroreflective traffic sign sheeting efficiency: Full cube vs. truncated cube sheeting

Seth Chalmers
Chalmers Engineering Services
In the trenches with sign sheeting (How do you determine how a product is going to perform?)

Mark Kleinschmit
Avery-Dennison Corporation
A rational use of retroreflective sheeting in the work zone

 

 Session 3B:
Conspicuity and Lighting
Moderator: James Green (GE Engineering)

James Sayer
University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
The role of garment sleeves and retroreflector positioning in the day and nighttime conspicuity of high-conspicuity garments

C.G. Lawton and S. Cook
Ergonomics and Safety Research Institute, Loughborough University (UK)
The development of a more conspicuous police motorcycle livery following ergonomics principles

Daniel Greenhouse, Amy Hsiao and Theodore Cohn
Visual Detection Lab, University of California-Berkeley
Comparison of color identifiability and traffic sign visibility under high-pressure sodium and induction roadway illuminants

Ronald Gibbons
Virginia Tech Transportation Institute
Guidelines for crosswalk lighting: A static experiment
     
6:00-8:30 PM Reception and Conference Dinner  
     
8:30-9:15 PM Committee Meetings  
 

Day 2 - Tuesday, April 5

8:00-8:30 AM Registration and Continental Breakfast  
8:30-10:00 AM Special Session 4:
Performance-based Specifications

Keynote Paper
Paul Carlson
Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University
Progress toward performance-based retroreflective criteria for traffic signs

  
     
10-10:15 AM Break  
     
10:15-11:45 AM Session 5A:
Effectiveness of Road Safety Countermeasures
Moderator: Helmut Zwahlen (Ohio University)

David Burns
3M Traffic Safety Systems
Effectiveness of dynamic speed monitoring displays for speed management

Jeffrey Bagdade
AAA Michigan
Visibility improvements enhance intersection safety in Michigan

Douglas Ripley
Howard R. Green Company
Quantifying the safety benefits of traffic control devices: Benefit-cost analysis of traffic sign upgrades

 Session 5B:
Railroad Crossings
Moderator: Frank Schieber (Univ. of South Dakota)

Richard Raub and Roy Lucke
Center for Public Safety, Northwestern University
Improving safety at highway-rail grade crossings: An alternative to train horns

R.F. Benekohal
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Effectiveness of on-board warning system at railroad grade crossings

Theodore Cohn, Kent Christianson, Daniel Greenhouse and Joseph Barton
Visual Detection Lab, UC-Berkeley
Improving railroad grade crossing safety by increasing the visibility of traffic control devices
     
11:45-1:15 PM Lunch
     
1:15-2:45 PM Special Session 6:
Validation of Traffic Control Device Effectiveness

Panel Discussion and Debate
Moderator: David Burns (3M Company)
Panel Members: TBA

  
     
2:45-3:00 PM Break  
     
3:00-4:45 PM Session 7:
Photometry and Photometric Analysis
Moderator: Carl Andersen (Federal Highway Administration)

Melisa Finley
Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University
Comparison of two luminance measurement methods

Richard Austin and Eric Nelson
Gamma Scientific Corporation
Advances in laboratory gonioreflectometry

Nicolas Hautiere, Didier Aubert and Eric Dumont
INRETS/LCPC (FRANCE)
Onboard measurement of atmospheric visibility: Static calibration and quantitative evaluation

Michelle McColgan, Yukio Akashi, John Vanderlofske and John Bullough
Lighting Research Institute, RPI
Glare from the roadway visibility system

  
     
4:45-5:00 PM Break  
     
5:00-6:00 PM Interactive Panel Session 8:
Establishing National Minimum Pavement Marking
Retroreflectivity Requirements: Issues, Challenges and Information Gaps

Overview and Discussion Moderator:
Ken Opiela (Federal Highway Administration)
Panel: TBA

  

 

Post-Symposium Workshop - Wednesday Morning, April 6

8:30-9:00 AM Free Workshop Registration and Coffee Service (Only)
9:00-11:00 AM An Interactive Overview of the TarVIP Visibility Model (Version 5.0)

Moderator: Carl Andersen, FHWA
Presenter: Fuat Aktan, University of Iowa             TarVIP Description

Additional Information Contact
Frank Schieber
Chair, TRB Visibility Committee
E-Mail: schieber@usd.edu
Phone: 605-677-5295  Fax: 605-677-3195