Which is easier to read? A) PROSPECT AV B) Prospect Av In an e-mail, a message with all capital letters is considered shouting. Same goes for road signs. Studies have shown the legibility of street signs is affected by the lettering as well as reflectivity. Ground-breaking tests on older drivers showed signs that made use of upper- and lowercase...
A sign signals drivers the way to negotiate Exit 8A of the NJ Turnpike in this 2005 file photo.Which is easier to read?
A) PROSPECT AV
B) Prospect Av
In an e-mail, a message with all capital letters is considered shouting.
Same goes for road signs.
Studies have shown the legibility of street signs is affected by the lettering as well as reflectivity.
Ground-breaking tests on older drivers showed signs that made use of upper- and lowercase letters became visible much sooner than all-caps signs. The tests were conducted by researchers that included Penn State University civil engineering professor and Kearny native Martin T. Pietrucha.
Now, after years of research, the Federal Highway Administration is requiring towns throughout the nation to develop a sign plan by the start of next year.
New street name signs, the administration says, should have upper and lowercase letters and better reflective material by 2018. By 2015, safety and warning signs, such as "STOP" and "YIELD" and "RAILROAD CROSSING," would have to meet the new standards for better reflectivity.
To cash-strapped municipalities in New Jersey, the new regulation was as jarring as an Interstate 80 pothole.
The Federal Highway Administration is mandating municipalities overhaul street signs with all-caps lettering and poor reflective material by 2018. Years of research on older drivers have shown that lettering on signs in upper and lower case letters become legible sooner — about 2 seconds sooner at 55 mph — than signs in all uppercase. Better reflectivity and larger type also helps the signage give off less glare, making it easier to read at night.
"This could not come at a worse possible time," said Bill Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities. "This is a poster-child example of a mandate that is going to have a direct impact on local taxes."
Some of the newer signs have a font referred to as "ClearviewHwy" and larger type than the older fonts. Street-name signs, such as "MAIN ST," cost about $100 each, and in New York City the conversion to new signs was expected to carry a price tag of nearly $28 million. In Newark, there are 60,000 to 70,000 street signs on 325 miles of city streets.
Resistance has even come from U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, who said the regulation "makes no sense" in these tight financial times.
"States, cities, and towns should not be required to spend money that they don’t have to replace perfectly good traffic signs," LaHood said late last year. He later softened his tone in a news release.
LaHood allowed for a 45-day reopening of public comment to give Americans a chance to weigh in. That comment period ended Jan. 14, and some of the suggestions could impact the targeted deadline dates by the FHWA.
At least 90 percent of the signs on New Jersey’s state highways are already in compliance, and there are plans to have the rest meet the new standards, said New Jersey Department of Transportation spokesman Tim Greeley.
But the sign of the times looks bleaker for towns and counties.
Dressel said that despite the laudable intent of the safer sign standards, having to dig deeper into the coffers "is going to break the back of the local budgets."
The sign changes are intended to make them easier to read for America’s aging population, keeping the highways safer for Baby Boomers and others on the road.
In a study at Penn State’s Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute, signs that made use of upper and lowercase letters on better reflective material were visible much sooner than the traditional all-caps signs. Participants ages 65 to 83 saw the mixed-letter signs at 440 feet — 56 feet sooner than the signs with all uppercase letters.
"People can read this thing almost as much as 20 percent further as they can the other font," Pietrucha said. "If it is on high-speed freeways, it could give you a couple hundred feet — a couple extra seconds to react."
Pietrucha, who completed his undergraduate studies at New Jersey Institute of Technology and is director of the Larson Transportation Institute, said going to upper and lowercase letters on signs makes sense because words are easier to read that way.
To illustrate his point, he asked rhetorically: "Why is book type in upper and lowercase? Could you imagine reading page after page of all capital letters?"
Himself a member of the Baby Boom generation that the signs are intended to help, Dressel said he can’t imagine the changes will be worth the expense.
"The signs that would help my eyesight would have to be a billboard," he quipped.
"We’ve got to prioritize our spending," he added, his tone becoming more serious. "Do we need the additional cop to police the drug-free zones in front of schools? Do we need to have the senior citizen director? Do we need to have an additional health officer? Do we need the additional public works guy that’s going to pick up trash?
"We’re making some very tough decisions — white-knuckle decisions — over the budget. That two seconds (of increased sign visibility), it’s not the first priority."
Staff Writer David Giambusso contributed to this report.