One of the major problems of dealing with disruption of traffic flows on motorways is that of conveying information and directions to very large numbers of road users. Different means are required to reach recipients at short, medium and long ranges. This paper deals with a history of motorway communications leading to present policies for information distribution to drivers both on a pre-planned basis and for emergency purposes. The mechanics of information dissemination to drivers include a review of the sourcing, instrumentation availability, information origins, police control room organisation, electronic and other information facilities and systems of displaying messages or advice in various forms. There will also be an indication of the types of equipment available for dealing with emergency situations and reference to unique signing, especially at roadworks, used to convey directions or information and provide a greater degree of safety for both motorway users and operational personnel. Difficulties have been experienced in the degree of compliance with various message displays and experience in this field is reviewed with details of the percentage success rate, drawbacks in existing systems, a review of recent experiments and some ideas for future development. Other European systems are briefly referred to for comparison purposes. (a) for the covering abstract of the seminar see IRRD 273510.
Abstract