THE SIGNAGE FOUNDATION
FOR COMMUNICATION
EXCELLENCE, INC.

Germantown, TN Study

Footnotes

[1] As a humorous example, after the traveller leaves British Columbia, there is a town that is about one and a half to two hours away. Many service stations have thrived in the town for a number of years because the town is known as a natural break point because of its location. While travelling with small children, after two hours of driving, even though the car does not need to be refueled there are other needs that must be met at that time.


[2] For night vision or reduced visual acuity, the average distance is closer to 1" to 15 feet.


[3] This size is the minimum the Federal Highway Administration requires for its directional signs to promote highway safety. We ask the committee members to consider the correlation between the size of private signs and traffic accidents. In one of the most definitive studies on signage, Cirillo, Dietz and Beatty's Analysis and Modelling Relationships Between Accidents and the Geometric and Traffic Characteristics of the Interstate System analysis showed a correlation between a higher density of private signs and lower traffic accident rates. The regression model applied in the study indicated a -.017 change in the number of accidents for each additional commercial sign placed near an underpass and a -.011 for each additional commercial sign placed near an overpass. They also showed that while commercial signs help, information signs increase accidents. Another similar study done by Rob Netherton for the U.S. Department of Transportation concluded that "the available evidence remains statistically insufficient to support [the] relationship" between the existence of electronic message centers and traffic accidents.


[4] Notes from Germantown 2004:
  • Peak Hourly Volume is about ten (10%) percent of Daily Volume.
  • Major Streets constitute twenty (20%) to twenty-five (25%) percent of the Total Street System Mileage, but they carry eighty (80%) percent of all the trips.
  • In 1984 there were about 10,000 trips in the Peak Hour
  • In 2004 there will be about 20,000 trips in the Park Hour