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Citation |
Zwahlen HT, Schnell T. Transp. Res. Rec. 1995; 1495: 107-116. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 1995, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing) |
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DOI |
unavailable |
PMID |
unavailable |
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Abstract |
The delineation of curves on rural two-lane highways in Ohio is the responsibility of traffic engineers in the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT). The traffic engineers currently use the Ohio Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (OMUTCD) as a guide for the curve delineation planning and implementation. However, the rules that are given in the OMUTCD and the federal MUTCD do not guarantee that the curve delineation provides optimal, uniform information to the driver. OCARD (ODOT computer-aided road delineation), a knowledge-based system running on an MS DOS personal computer assists the user in the delineation task and treats similar or equal curves with the same traffic characteristics in exactly the same, consistent, and uniform way. The basis for the development of OCARD is the idea that an adequate number of roughly equally spaced delineation devices in a curve provides a driver, who is unfamiliar with a particular curve, with curvature information that may be helpful in the curve speed selection, thus resulting in fewer run-off-the-road accidents. The computed curve and delineation information can be stored and easily distributed if required. OCARD was carefully developed with regard to easy human-computer interaction. An extensive context sensitive on-line help utility describes the system, the required input data, the handling, all field measurement procedures, and the produced output data in great detail. As with any other software package it would be strongly recommended to use it only after the user has had adequate user training in obtaining the required measurements in the field and running a number of case studies using the system. Language: en |
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Keywords |
Traffic signs; Highway traffic control; Computer software; Computer aided analysis; Human computer interaction; Knowledge based systems; Software engineering |