How Well Do People Understand the Signs and Signals at User Worked Level Crossings?

Abstract

In 2012, RSSB commissioned TRL to carry out a review of the signs and signals at user-worked level crossings (UWCs) to identify whether improvements can be made. This paper describes a comprehension survey of these signs and signals and presents the findings for three signs: a ‘Stop Look Listen Sign for Pedestrians’, a ‘Stop Look Listen Sign for Drivers’, a ‘Stop and Telephone Sign for Drivers’; and one signal: a miniature stop light (MSL). An online questionnaire was administered to 224 road users to determine the extent to which the information provided at these types of crossings is well understood. The results show that respondents’ understanding of the road user types at which each of the three signs is aimed is poor regardless of experience or context. In addition, the results show that there is a lack of understanding about the appropriate procedure to follow for two of the signs and the MSL signal. The implications of these findings are that the design of information at user-worked level crossings needs to be improved. These methods for improvement will be identified and evaluated during the next phase of the work.

Keywords: user worked crossing, UWC, miniature stop lights, MSLs, signs, comprehension

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe100652