Perception and Highway Signs

Martin Pietrucha is an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Penn State University. His research focuses on the readability of highway signs. He lists human factors as one of his specialties.

A recent New York Times article highlights his research on a new font, Clearview, with improved readability. The Federal Highway Administration approved Clearview in 2004. Many states are now replacing their older Highway Gothic font signs with Clearview.

Here is a picture of two signs. The left one is in Highway Gothic and the one on the right is in Clearview.
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Here is how these data are collected:


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Future research of this type will look at negative contrast signs (dark on light).

The research described here and other similar human factors research are examples of how psychologists and other scientists can apply the principles of measurement and research to solve real world problems.