The purpose of this study was to quantify real-world highway sign reading behavior while driving at night. Sign reading behavior was assessed using traditional self-report augmented by an in-vehicle eye tracking system. Good agreement was found between eye movement data (last-look distance) and verbal report measures of sign legibility distance (r = 0.9). Significant reductions in legibility di...

In addition to lower emissions warm mix asphalt has several advantages over hot mix asphalt such as fuel energy savings, decreased binder aging and an extended paving season (Photo courtesy: Matthew Corrigan, FHWA) The National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) is evaluating warm mix asphalt (WMA) technologies. WMA technology allows the mixing, lay down, and compaction of asphalt mixes at si...

The U.S. Department of Transportation seeks to determine if remote sensing can contribute to streamlining the environmental assessment process. Environmental protection is accomplished through Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) that seek to prevent adverse environmental effects from taking place rather than mitigating problems caused by past activities or practi...

Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Virginia produces outstanding transportation professionals, innovative research results and provides important public service. The Center for Transportation Studies is committed to academic excellence, multidisciplinary research and to developing state-of-the-art facilities. Through a partnership with the Virginia Department of Transportati...

In the last 3 decades, between 4378 (in 2008) and 8090 (in 1979) pedestrians were killed each year in motor vehicle related crashes, representing 11% to 17% of the total roadway fatalities. Although the numbers of pedestrian deaths have been in decline steadily since 1980, their distributions have become more and more concentrated in urban areas. There is an urgent need to develop reliable pede...

The Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) is undertaking a research program to study the visibility of retroreflective raised pavement markers (RRPMs). The focus of the initial effort is to determine the relative luminance of RRPMs and pavement markings (PMs) needed to produce adequate guidance on rural two-lane roadways at night. A driving simu...

Deterioration of bridges in the United States has been well recognized. According to the FHWA National Bridge Inventory, one third of nearly 600,000 U.S. highway bridges are classified as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Since the majority of bridges were built using wood, steel or concrete, the same conventional materials have been used for bridge replacement or rehabilitation,...

Thousands of traffic and safety monitoring cameras are deployed all across the country and throughout the world to serve a wide range of uses, from monitoring building access to adjusting timing cycles of traffic lights at clogged intersections. Currently, these images are typically viewed on a wall of monitors in a traffic operations or security center where observers manually monitor potentia...