Research on the Relationship between Dynamic Message Sign Control Strategies and Driving Safety in Freeway Work Zones

Abstract

Several studies have researched the effect of dynamic message signs (DMSs) on the driving safety in work zones. However, only a few studies have examined the design of DMS control strategies in work zones. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of DMS control strategies on driving decisions and behaviors and to improve the driving safety in work zones by changing the content and placement of DMSs. In this study, five control strategies are proposed by combining five DMSs with different contents (“change lane” versus “go straight”). A total of 32 participants participated in this study. Each participant drove in five scenarios in a high-fidelity driving simulator corresponding to strategies 1-5. The results show that the control strategies have a significant effect on drivers’ decisions and behavior (e.g., the driving speed, acceleration, and lateral placement). All strategies reduce the drivers’ speeds and improve their control stability and compliance. After conducting analytic hierarchy process (AHP) analysis, strategy 2 was removed because the approaching speed exceeded the speed limit. The weight vectors of strategies 1, 3, 4, and 5 under free-flow traffic and traffic jam conditions are Ƴfree-flow traffic=0.25,0.28,0.17,0.23 and Ƴtraffic jam=[0.17,0.28,0.2,0.3], respectively. These results show that strategy 4 is not suitable for free-flow traffic in work zones, while strategies 5 and 3 are suitable for traffic jams in work zones. Strategy 3 is suitable for both free-flow traffic and traffic jams. The first occurrence of a decision sign that contains lane change content is key to the driver’s decision; in addition, the position of signage with such information should gradually be moved closer to work zones with increasing traffic flow.

Influence Range and Traffic Risk Analysis of Moving Work Zones on Urban Roads

“…Xu et al [22] proposed a driving simulator method to study the relationship between dynamic message sign control strategies and driving safety in a stationary work zone on a freeway. Pesti et al [23] selected travel time and delay indicators to assess the impact of a stationary work zone on traffic flow, providing an interval estimate for maximum queue length and a method for determining the best closure schedule and start time for planned work zone lane closures.…”

Research on Calculation of Warning Zone Length of Freeway Based on Micro-Simulation Model

“…And the study found that early confluence may be the most effective way to reduce the risk of collision. In addition, some scholars have studied the dynamic information sign layout and speed limit in the freeway warning zone, which shows that different dynamic information sign layout and speed limit have a significant impact on the safety of the warning zone [2], [23].…”

“…It will not only cause traffic delay, but also lead to traffic accidents, which will affect the safety of freeway operation. According to the report of road safety accidents in China [1], in 2018, traffic accidents on freeway accounted for 3.15% of total traffic accidents, and the freeway maintenance work zones caused a total of 1100 deaths; in addition, the death rate in the freeway maintenance zone in China is 3 times that in other areas [2]. Because vehicles in the warning zone need to continue to slow…”

Study of improved signal‐based merge strategy in work zone areas based on Cellular Automata simulation

“…In addition, Grillo et al [19] discussed how to determine the thresholds for switching merge strategies based on the speed parameter, which further improved the dynamic late merge in theoretical. Overall, the dynamic late merge is considered more flexible and can take into account both advantages of early merge and late merge [20][21][22].…”