title: Variable Message Signs for road tunnel emergency evacuations.
abstract: This paper investigates the design of Variable Message Signs (VMS) as a way-finding aid for road tunnel emergency evacuations. The use of the Theory of Affordances is suggested to provide recommendations on the design of VMS. A preliminary evaluation of 11 selected VMS systems was performed and 6 of them were further evaluated using an affordance-based within subject stated-preference questionnaire administered to a sample of 62 participants. Results are used to provide recommendations on the characteristics of the VMS systems, such as (1) size of the sign (large or small); (2) use of flashing lights; (3) colour scheme; (4) message coding (i.e., text, pictograms or a combination of them). The best performing VMS features for road tunnel emergency evacuation included the use of larger signs, flashing lights, the combination of emergency exit pictorial symbol in green in one panel and text in amber in the other panel.
authors.affiliation: Department of Fire Safety Engineering, Lund University, Lund, P.O. Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden. Electronic address: enrico.ronchi@brand.lth.se.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ronchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Fire Safety Engineering, Lund University, Lund, P.O. Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nilsson
authors.affiliation: Faveo Projektledning AB, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Henric
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Modig
authors.affiliation: MTO Säkerhet AB, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anders Lindgren
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Walter
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology; D003116:Color; D004630:Emergencies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008123:Location Directories and Signs / Q000592:standards; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Emergency evacuation; Notification; System design; Theory of Affordances; Tunnel evacuation; Variable Message Sign; Way-finding