The Highways Agency of the Department of Transport has commissioned a GIS-based computer system for the re-signing of London's primary routes. This Signing Management System (SMS) is believed to be the most comprehensive software package ever developed for a traffic engineering application, covering the full signing process for routeing through to detailed contract documents for sign manufacture, with a detailed database. The background to the Highways Agency's decision to commission the SMS is explained. The way in which SIGNPLOT and other existing projects were integrated into a GIS environment using ManInfo and MapBasic are described, and the functionality of the resulting system and the ways in which difficulties were overcome are demonstrated. Novel features of the SMS are covered in detail, including the automatic generation of sign face designs and the identification of the consequential effects throughout the SMS when any change is made. The methodology behind the QSIGN sign routeing system and its integration into SMS is also discussed. (A)
Samenvatting