Citation

Knapp BG, Pain RF. Transp. Res. Rec. 1980; 782: 40-46.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1980, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The results of a two-part study that investigated the effects of varying roadway delineation width and the density of design elements within the roadway line on driver lane-change behavior are reported. The width study consisted of a controlled field experiment in which drivers indicated their decisions on whether to cross 1-, 2-, and 3-ft delineation treatments laid on a closed section of roadway. In the second part of the study, a laboratory experiment, the number of elements in the line design was varied by overlaying various drawings onto a highway scene and showing these slides to subjects to elicit their lane-choice responses. The designs tested were generated from previous work related to delineation treatments for high-occupancy vehicle lanes, which often operate as special-use lanes during rush hours and then revert to general use during off-peak hours. Delineation markings must thus appear prohibitive at one time and permissive at another. Width of line was found to have relatively little effect on the prohibitive or permissive meaning of delineation treatments. Density of design elements, however, was found to be an important determinant of permissiveness or prohibitiveness in that the widely spaced elements invited lane crossover more than densely spaced ones. The study findings appear to be applicable not only to delineation designs for special-use lanes but also as general design parameters in the application of roadway markings.