A prestigious “best paper” award was given to a team of TTI researchers during the Transportation Research Board (TRB) 87th Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. The paper, “License Plate and Telephone Numbers in Changeable Message Sign AMBER Alert Messages” won the D. Grant Mickle Award for outstanding paper in the field of operation, safety and maintenance of transportation facilities.
Authors Conrad Dudek, Steven Schrock and Brooke Ullman conducted research in six Texas cities and in the TTI driving simulator to determine the effects of displaying license plates and telephone numbers on changeable message signs. The research revealed that this information can overload motorists and that they are not likely to recall license plate and 10-digit telephone numbers displayed in AMBER alerts. This research was sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation and conducted through research project 0-4023, “Automated Dynamic Message Sign Design and Display.”
The recipients of the award were all TTI researchers at the time of the project. Since then, Dudek has retired from the Institute after 43 years of distinguished service. Schrock is now an assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering at the University of Kansas. Ullman is an assistant research engineer in TTI’s Signs and Markings Program.
The annual D. Grant Mickle Award was named after TRB’s executive director from 1964 to 1966.