A Generalized Assessment Model for the Amount of Information of Variable Message Signs

Variable message signs (VMS) have recently been implemented as a key component of transportation information systems. However, technical guidelines of VMS designing remain absent. Hence, this study proposed a generalized assessment model for the amount of information (AOI) of VMS. In the proposed model, the AOI of VMS is defined as the reduced uncertainty of driver’ selection. The advantages of the assessment model are: 1) to reflect the effect of the VMS on driver behavior, 2) to consider the driving task, and 3) to take drivers as an entity to analyze. Then experiments were performed to validate the proposed model. Learning curve and hierarchical linear models were applied to quantify the relationships between the AOI of VMS, response time, and watching frequencies. The results show that the AOI increase will lead to response time increase. The proposed model can be transferred to properly design VMS and to evaluate existing VMS.

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