Research Programs to Compare Performance of existing FHWA Typeface Standards to Clearview designs

Listed below are research and design development studies prepared by various university transportation research centers, independent research consultants and designers that contributed to the development of the Clearview Type System and related application designs.

Of these, five studies are summarized in this section of the website.  They include the first study by The T.D. Larson Transportation Institute at Pennsylvania State University (Study 1). Although much changed in the process, the designs and the early findings provided the guidance on which Clearview development has been based.

The remaining four studies (Study 2, 3, 4 and 5) were based on the final version of the Clearview Typeface System design (introduced in April 2002). The typeface consisted of six weights of the typefaces in both negative and positive contrast versions. A summary and full citation for each study is noted.

Chronology of Clearview Development

In questioning the effectiveness of existing highway typeface legibility, Martin Pietrucha, PE, Ph.D., an engineering professor with specialty in human factors research at the T.D. Larson Transportation Institute (LTI), Pennsylvania State University, and Donald Meeker principal, Meeker & Associates, Inc., an environmental graphic designer experienced in systems, standards and type design, initiated the Clearview project. Philip Garvey, a perceptual psychologist who had conducted  older driver studies for the FHWA, subsequently joined the team.

The project led to the creation of  a new typeface design after, controlled field analysis revealed that existing FHWA road sign typefaces would not meet overall legibility requirements. What started as a general question of legibility, soon focused on the needs of the older driver. Studies compared new Clearview designs to FHWA Standard Alphabets used on guide signs. Clearview (1st generation bold weight design) was compared to Series E-Modified and the newly designed Clearview Condensed (1st generation design) with mixed case was compared to Series D all upper case. Clearview design was informed by British Transport, a single weight typeface designed for highways in the UK in 1964 by Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert. (Later, the Clearview team applied lessons learned to the design and study of NPS Rawlinson Roadway, a new typeface we developed for the National Park Service.)

The first study of the Clearview design, conducted by LTI (Garvey, et al. 1997), validated our initial assumptions about design and pattern recognition. Most notably the new bold weight mixed case showed greater legibility on freeway destination signs and a mixed case legend with the same overall footprint area out-performed an all uppercase legend.

Based on the findings of the initial study by LTI, Texas DOT with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), independently initiated research to improve guide signing for the older driver. Between 1996 and 2001, TTI research engineers, H. Gene Hawkins, Ph.D., Paul Carlson, Ph.D., Susan T. Chrysler, Ph.D. and others published five studies comparing evolving versions of Clearview to current federal standards. The research findings performed on Clearview in that period were positive, though the design process was still in development.

Research projects guided the design of the typeface as did subsequent field testing of letterforms and letter-spacing. James Montalbano a digital lettering designer, principal of Terminal Design, Inc. joined the design team offering significant insight into the design process and issuing the final design as series of TrueType fonts with precision spacing built into the software.

Years of refinements based on research findings, detail studies of letter-shape and comparative field studies culminated in the final typeface design in early 2002. In the Spring of 2002, Clearview was presented at the test track of The T.D. Larson Transportation Institute at the Pennsylvania State University. Observers included representatives from Texas DOT, Dallas- Fort Worth Airport Authority, Pennsylvania DOT and the Federal Highway Administration. A fully designed system of six complete typefaces with a version for positive contrast and negative contrast applications for each weight was presented along with comparative demonstrations of the new typeface designs and existing FHWA standards displayed for long distance view and side-by-side comparisons of day and night views with the versions tailored to negative and positive contrast on high brightness materials. Participants reacted positively. 

This research in the early stages of the project are chronicled in the FHWA 2014: Handbook for Designing Roadways for the Aging Population. The research cited is may be confusing as the studies completed prior to mid 2002, were not based on the final type system design.

The FHWA issued Interim Adoption (IA-5) status in September 2004 allowed states to use Clearview in positive contrast applications. Research was ongoing.

Applications design concepts as included in this website was directed by Jeff Smith and Chris O’Hara of Meeker & Associates, Inc. The Signage for Cycling project was directed by Donald Meeker with Jeff Smith and Chris O’Hara. Cyclist symbol research was conducted by Tonya Smith-Jackson, Ph.D. Graduate Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Assessment and Cognitive Ergonomics Laboratory Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, March 4, 2010

Research, Design and Development Studies

Research studies that compare Clearview to FHWA Standard Alphabets, and directly influenced the Clearview design are listed below. Research published from 1996 to 2017 was underway was done as the Clearview font design was evolving . Research initiated in or after 2002 is based on the final design. Research studies 2 through 5 below were conducted using the final Clearview typeface designs. These are also summarized in this section of the website.

Studies in bold type are summarized in the research section of this web site.

P. Garvey, M. Pietrucha, and D. Meeker. (June 15, 1996) Development and Testing of a New Guide Sign Alphabet. Pennsylvania Transportation Institute (PTI) for the 3M Company.

P. Garvey, Martin T. Pietrucha, and Donald Meeker. (1997). Effects of Font Capitalization on Legibility of Guide Signs, The Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute, Transportation Research Record, Number 1605, Washington, D.C. 1997. (#1)

H. Gene Hawkins, Jr., Dale L. Picha, Mark D. Wooldridge, Francis K. Greene, And Greg Brinkmeyer., Performance Comparison of Three Freeway Guide Sign Alphabets, Transportation Research Record 1692. , Washington, D.C. (1999)

Carlson, P. J. Evaluation of Clearview Alphabet with Microprismatic Retroreflective Sheetings , Report No. FHWA/TX-02/4049-1. Texas Transportation Institute, August 2001, resubmitted October 2001.

Smiley, A., C. Courage, T. Smahel, G. Fitch, and M. Currie. Required Letter Height for Street Name Signs: An On-Road Study, Paper No. 01-2225. Human Factors North and Toronto Transportation, 2001.

Chrysler, S. T., P. J. Carlson, and H. G. Hawkins. Nighttime Legibility of Ground-Mounted Traffic Signs as a Function of Font, Color, and Retroreflective Sheeting Type, Report No. FHWA/TX-03/1796-2. Texas Transportation Institute, September 2002.

Holick, A. and P. J. Carlson. Nighttime Sign Legibility as a Function of Various Combinations of Retroreflective Sheeting and Font, Report No. FHWA/TX-04/1796-4. Texas Transportation Institute, September 2003. (#2)

Garvey, P.M., Chirwa, K., Meeker, D.T., Pietrucha, M.T., Zineddin, A.Z., Ghebrial, R.S., and Montalbano, J. A New Font and Arrow for National Park Service Guide Signs, Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 1862, 1-9. (2004)

Holick, A., S. T. Chrysler, E. Park, and P. J. Carlson. Evaluation of the Clearview™ Font for Negative Contrast Traffic Signs, Report No. FHWA/TX-06/0-4984-1. Texas Transportation Institute, January 2006, resubmitted April 2006.

D. Meeker, M. Pietrucha, P. Garvey., Proportion Based Format System for Conventional Road Guide Signs., Presented at TRB Annual Meeting (2006), Transportation Research Record No. 1973, NRC/ TRB. Washington, D.C. (2006).

D. Meeker, M. Pietrucha, P. Garvey., Proportion Based Format System for Freeway & Expressway Guide Signs., Presented at the TRB Annual Meeting. (2008). ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering. Washington, D.C. (2010).

Mahmassani, H. S., C. W. Frei, and M. Saberi. Clearview™ Font in Illinois: Assessing IDOT Experiences and Needs, Report No. FHWA-ICT-13-003. Northwestern University Transportation Center, January 2013.

P. Garvey, M.J. Klena, Wei-Yin Eie, and M Pietrucha. The Legibility of the Clearview Typeface System compared to Standard Highway Alphabets on Negative and Positive Contrast Signs. The T.D. Larson Transportation Institute for Maryland SHA, Michigan DOT and US DOT Research & Innovative Technology Administration. February 1, 2015.(#3)

Kwigizile, V, Jun-Seok Oh, R, Van Houten, D. Prieto, R. Boateng, L. Rodriguez, A. Ceifetz, J. Yassin, J. Bagdade, P. Andridge. Evaluation of Michigan’s Engineering Improvements for Older Drivers. Western Michigan Univ. Michigan Department of Transportation. RC 1636, 2015. (#4)

Jonathan Dobres, Susan T. Chrysler, Benjamin Wolfe, Nadine Chahine, Bryan Reimer. MIT Reamer. Empirical Assessment of Legibility of Highway Gothic and Clearview Signage Fonts. MIT AGE Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Presented at TRB Annual Meeting (2016), Transportation Research Record No. 2624, 2017. (#5)

Design and Research References

The following is a limited list of research, planning studies and design programs that influenced the development of Clearview.

Worboys, Sir Walter, Signs for All-purpose Roads, The Worboys Committee, Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert, designers, Road Research Laboratory, Slough, UK. (1963).

J. Markowitz, C.W. Dietrich., An Investigation of the Design and Performance of Traffic Control Devices, Report No. 1726, Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc., for Bureau of Public Roads, U.S. DOT, Washington, D.C. (1968).

Steven Carr, Kevin Lynch, Fletcher Ashley, et al., City Signs and Lights; A policy study, Boston Redevelopment Authority, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. MIT Press. 1973.

Forbes, Theodore W.; Moskowitz, Karl & Morgan, Glen (1950). “A Comparison of Lower Case and Capital Letters for Highway Signs”. Proceedings of the Highway Research Board. pp. 355–373.

Alexander, G. J. and Lunenfeld, H. (1975) Positive guidance in traffic control (A User’s Guide to Positive Guidance, 3rd Edition. Washington, DC: FHWA, 1990.) Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D C.

Mace, D. J., P. M. Garvey, and R. F. Heckard. Relative Visibility of Increased Legend Size vs. Brighter Materials for Traffic Signs , Report No. FHWA-RD-94-035. Federal Highway Administration, 1994.

Garvey, P. M. and D. J. Mace. Changeable Message Sign Visibility, Report No. FHWA-RD-94-077. Federal Highway Administration, April 1996.

Staplin, L. K., K. Lococo, and J. Sim. Traffic Control Design Elements for Accommodating Drivers with Diminished Capacity, Report No. FHWA-RD-90-055. Federal Highway Administration, 1990.

Staplin, L. K., K. Lococo, and J. Sim. Traffic Control Design Elements for Accommodating Drivers with Diminished Capacity, Report No. FHWA-RD-90-055. Federal Highway Administration, 1990.