BACKGROUND

NCHRP Project 17-18(8) initiated development of a Human Factors Guidelines (HFG) document. This document is to be a resource that highway designers and traffic engineers can readily use in their work. It will serve as a complement to existing and planned design guides and standards, such as the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, AASHTO's Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets, and the under-development Highway Safety Manual. Although existing design standards recognize some basic road-user design parameters, the standards do not provide sufficient explanation and background to develop solutions to the many, varied types of design and operational problems associated with human behavior and capabilities. Human factors guidelines are needed to provide engineering solutions to human-centered safety problems and to address aspects of roadway safety specifically from the road-user perspective. The ultimate goal is to develop the HFG as a comprehensive set of human factors safety guidelines to assist engineers and others to achieve safer and more useable design, operation, and maintenance of roadways. Although there are many groups who may use the HFG, the primary audience includes those practitioners dealing with design and operational issues in their normal work. Therefore, the HFG must be user friendly and easily cross-referenced with existing design manuals.

NCHRP Project 17-18(8) developed a preliminary outline for the HFG and drafts of Chapters 1 and 5. A CD-ROM of the draft chapters has also been developed. In addition, the TRB Joint Subcommittee on International Human Factor Guidelines for Road Systems will develop a draft Chapter 3. The TRB Joint Subcommittee, which was created to help plan the development of a human factors guideline for road systems, at its meeting discussed the next steps in developing the HFG. They recommended that the next steps include refinement and enhancement of Chapters 1, 3, and 5 and development of additional chapters. The intent is that the chapters developed under Project 17-18(8) and this project will serve as the initial HFG. The HFG will be recommended for adoption by AASHTO.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this research are to (1) develop a style guide for the Human Factors Guide (HFG); (2) refine Chapters 1, 3, and 5; (3) evaluate the CD-ROM delivery format developed as part of NCHRP Project 17-18(8); and (4) develop three selected new chapters for the HFG.

Status: The project has been completed and the final reports published.

Product Availability: NCHRP Report 600A, Human Factors Guidelines for Road Systems, Collection A: Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 13, 22, 23, 26.  NCHRP Report 600B, Human Factors Guidelines for Road Systems, Collection B: Chapters 6, 22(Tutorial 3), 23 (Updated).

Individual chapters of NCHRP Report 600 are available for download in PDF format.