The aim of this research is to find a solution for the standardization of road signs in the EU zone by a comparative analysis of different national sign systems to establish a common set from a single country. This work is based on the idea that road sign standardization might increase the safety level of transnational journeys and foster the relationships among the various members of the EU Community. This paper presents the outcome of the first step of the research, which focuses on the harmonization of danger signs. In more detail, a multicriteria approach is applied to rank 19 EU Member States on the basis of three main aspects: the installation cost of new signs, new sign learning issues and the effectiveness of sign systems. The study allows for the installation cost by quantifying the degree of similarity among road sign systems and the roadway network extension, on which new signs should be placed.
European Road Federation. European Road Statistics. Brussels Programme Centre, Luxemburg, 2008.
Commission of the European Communities. White paper. European transport policy for 2010: time to decide [com 370]. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities; 2001.
Commission of the European Communities. Halving the number of road accident victims in the European Union by 2010: a shared responsibility [com 311]. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities; 2003.
EU Project Improver: Subproject 4, Final Report. Harmonisation of road signs and road markings. TREN-04-ST-S07.37022; 2006.
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and TRL (Transport Research Laboratory) Limited, United Kingdom. Harmonisation of road signs and markings on the Trans-European Road Network to improve road safety in the EU; 2006.
Elvik R, Vaa T, editors. The handbook of road safety measures. Elsevier; 2004.
US Dept. for Transport, Federal Highway Administration. Road safety performance associated with improved traffic signal design and increased signal conspicuity; 2002.
Montella A, Elefante A. Studio sui fattori contributivi dell’incidentalità nelle rotatorie urbane. Paper presented at: AIPCR XXV Italian National Road Conference; 2006; Naples.
Stamatiadis N, Vest A. Warning devices for reducing speeds in curves. Proceedings of Fifth International Conference on Traffic and Transportation Studies. Science Press, 2006.
Stamatiadis N, Agent K. Development of accident reduction factors. Research Report of Kentucky Transportation Center, 96-13, 1996.
Castro C, Horberry T. The human factors of transport signs. CRC Press; 2004.
Wang F. Study on signs comprehension and driving safety based on drivers’ psychology perception. Paper presented at: ICTCT Extra Workshop; Beijing, 2007.
EU Project iN-SAFETY. Final exploitation plans, dissemination activities report and TIP. Sixth Framework Programme Priority 1.6.2, Sustainable Surface Transport; 2005.
Creaser J. Evaluating design options for a dynamic traffic sign. Proceedings of the Fifth International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training and Vehicle Design. Iowa City, IA: The University of Iowa; 2009.
Dewar RE, Kline DW, Swanson HA. Age differences in comprehension of traffic sign symbols. Transportation Research Record. 1994;1456:1-10.
Laberge JC, Creaser JI, Rakauskas ME, Ward NJ. Design of an intersection decision support (IDS) interface to reduce crashes at rural stop-controlled intersections. Transportation Research Part C. 2006;14:39-56.
Ng Annie WY, Chan Alan HS. The guessability of traffic signs: effects of prospective-user factors and sign design features. Accident Analysis Prevention. 2007;39:1254-1257.
Ng Annie WY, Chan Alan HS. The effects of driver factors and sign design features on the comprehensibility of traffic signs. Journal of Safety Research. 2008;39:321-328.
Amoroso S, La Franca L, Catalano M, Castelluccio F, Fichera D. The unification of the road signs in the European Union: an application to the warning signs [in Italian]. T&T Trasporti e Territorio, 2010;1:12-22.
Bahlmann C, Zhu Y, Ramesh V, Pellkofer M, Koehler T. A system for traffic sign detection, tracking, and recognition using color, shape, and motion information. Paper presented at: IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium; 2004.
Paulo CF, Correia PL. Traffic Sign Recognition Based on Pictogram Contours. Paper presented at: 9th International Workshop on Image Analysis for Multimedia Interactive Services; 2008; Klagenfurt, Austria.
Fleyeh H, Dougherty M. Road and traffic sign detection and recognition. Paper presented at: Advanced OR and AI Methods in Transportation; 2005.
Fleyeh H. Traffic and road sign recognition [PhD thesis]. Napier University; 2008.
Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and TMS Consultancy. Road Safety Engineering Manual. 2007.
Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). Road safety engineering: cost effective local safety schemes. 2012.
Amoroso S, Migliore M, Catalano M, Galatioto F. A demand-based methodology for planning the bus network of a small or medium town. European Transport – Trasporti Europei. 2010;44:41-56.
Amoroso S, Migliore M, Catalano M, Castelluccio F. Vertical take-off and landing air transport to provide tourist mobility. Journal of Air Transport Management. 2012;24:49-53.
Amoroso S, Catalano M, Galatioto F, Migliore M. The interaction between rail stations and urban area in medium-sized towns. A case study for Trapani [in Italian]. Ingegneria Ferroviaria. 2012;67(11):923-941.
Bergantino AS, Bierlaire M, Catalano M, Migliore M, Amoroso S. Taste heterogeneity and latent preferences in the choice behaviour of freight transport operators. Transport Policy. 2013;30:77-91.
Migliore M, Catalano M, Castelluccio F, Lo Burgio A, Di Giovanna M. The latent factors behind the urban travel behaviour. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2014;111:282-291.
Migliore M, Catalano M, Lo Burgio A, Maritano L. The analysis of urban travellers’ latent preferences to explain their mode choice behaviour. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment. 2012; 162: 193-203.
La Franca L, Catalano M, Castelluccio F, Montano F. Travelling towards and from minor islands through non-conventional air transport: Demand and cost analysis. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment. 2010; 130: 251-266.
Giuliano G. A multicriteria method for transportation investment planning. Transportation Research Part A: General. 1985;19(1):29-41.
Roy B, Vinke P. Multicriteria analysis: Survey and new directions. European Journal of Operational Research. 1981;8:207-218.
Van Delft A and Nijkamp P. Multicriteria analysis and regional decision-making. Studies in applied regional sciences. The Netherlands: Springer; 1977.
Guest Editor: Eleonora Papadimitriou, PhD
Editors: Dario Babić, PhD; Marko Matulin, PhD; Marko Ševrović, PhD.
The mission of our journal is to provide high quality communication of research results, which is crucial for the effectiveness of scientific research, the promotion of scientific information, new ideas, and original research in the field of traffic and transportation engineering.
1848-4069
0353-5320
Proud publisher
Accelerating Discoveries in Traffic Science |
2024 © Promet - Traffic&Transportation journal
