The paper describes the most interesting early findings of the review of London Trunk Road signposting. The review was set up on the assumption that optimum routes could be produced by choosing suitable target destinations and using a program such as SIGNPOST to determine the legends directing motorists to be provided on the direction signs. Completed steps in the review include the collection of a photographic inventory of all signs on Trunk Roads in London, the acquisition and modification of the London Transportation Study network and travel time estimates, and mounting SIGNPOST in a form capable of handling such a large network. Social research in the review has shown that drivers are primarily concerned with learning their present positions and only then can they make use of directional guidance. Routes are established using maps and other aids in advance of a journey, so that the main task of signposting is to indizate progress along the chosen route. Most drivers, and particularly those with any concept of directional guidance, understand the 8 main compass points. In parallel with these findings, the inventory work showed that over 60% of the 10,000 signs on Trunk Roads needed changing to overcome misleading inconsistencies between signs, misleading out-of-date (before the Worboys report) sign styles, and the effects of damage and obscuration. Given the need to make major changes, the paper indicates the different types of signing and the fundamental difficulties in selecting place names to form routes through urban areas. Regional names, based on compass points, provide one solution to the problem; they do not become out-of-date, they are already partly in use and known to drivers and permit free use of place names in line with their importance as destinations rather than stage points. The compass point directional guidance implicitly provides and updates the vital location information, and can always be related to maps. Further social research work has confirmed that such a regional system would be helpful, provided it is introduced with adequate education. Map makers find the system feasible to present. In any case there is a need for increased emphasis on road numbers (which more reliably appear on motoring maps), road names and junction names. Other work in the project has considered the environmental impact of the signs themselves and will be used to produce further guidance for implementation. *-
Abstract