Variable-message sign

A variable- (also changeable-, electronic-, or dynamic-) message sign or message board, often abbreviated VMS, VMB, CMS, or DMS, and in the UK known as a matrix sign,
is an electronic traffic sign often used on roadways to give travelers information about special events. Such signs warn of traffic congestion, accidents, incidents such as terrorist attacks, AMBER/Silver/Blue Alerts, roadwork zones, or speed limits on a specific highway segment. In urban areas, VMS are used within parking guidance and information systems to guide drivers to available car parking spaces. They may also ask vehicles to take alternative routes, limit travel speed, warn of duration and location of the incidents, inform of the traffic conditions, or display general public safety messages.

History

VMS systems were deployed at least as early as the 1950s on the New Jersey Turnpike. The road's signs of that period, and up to around 2012, were capable of displaying a few messages in neon, all oriented around warning drivers to slow down: "REDUCE SPEED", followed by a warning of either construction, accident, congestion, ice, snow, or fog at a certain distance ahead. The New Jersey Turnpike Authority replaced those signs (along with 1990s-vintage dot-matrix VMS systems along the Garden State Parkway) with more flexible electronic signs between 2010 and 2016.

The current VMS systems are largely deployed on freeways, trunk highways, or in work zones.

On the interchange of I-5 and SR 120 in San Joaquin County, California, an automated visibility and speed warning system was installed in 1996 to warn traffic of reduced visibility due to fog (where tule fog is a common problem in the winter), and of slow or stopped traffic.

Message Signs were deployed in Ontario during the 1990s and are now being upgraded on 400-series highways as well as two pilot secondary highways in northeastern Ontario.

Technologies and types

Early variable message signs included static signs with words that would illuminate (often using neon tubing) indicating the type of incident that occurred, or signs that used rotating prisms ( trilons) to change the message being displayed. These were later replaced by dot matrix displays typically using eggcrate, fiber optic, or flip-disc technology, which were capable of displaying a much wider range of messages than earlier static variable message signs. Since the late 1990s, the most common technology used in new installations for variable message signs are LED displays. In recent years, some newer LED variable message signs have the ability to display colored text and graphics.

Dot-matrix variable message signs are divided into three subgroups: character matrix, row matrix, and full matrix. In a character matrix VMS, each character is given its own matrix with equal horizontal spacing between them, typically with two or three rows of characters. In a full matrix VMS, the entire sign is a single large dot matrix display, allowing the display of different fonts and graphics. A row matrix VMS is a hybrid of the two types, divided into two or three rows like a character matrix display, except each row is a single long dot matrix display instead of being split per character horizontally.

Overhead variable message signs are today available in three form factors: front access, rear access, and walk-in. In a front access variable message sign, maintenance is performed by lifting the sign open from the front. Most smaller VMS are of the front access form factor, and are typically installed today on major arterials. The rear access form factor is similar to the front access form factor, except that maintenance is performed from the rear of the sign, and are commonly used for medium-sized dynamic message signs installed along the roadside of freeways (instead of overhead). The walk-in form factor is a more recent introduction, where maintenance on the sign is performed from the inside of the sign. A key advantage of the walk-in form factor is that lane closures are generally not required to perform maintenance on the sign. Most of the largest VMS units installed today are walk-in units, and are typically installed overhead on freeways.

The NJ Turnpike Authority counts five unique types of variable message signs under its jurisdiction, at least one of which has been replaced by newer signs. They are:

#"REDUCE SPEED" neon signs (1950s-2010, obsolete, have now been replaced).
#"Changeable message signs" (trilon/ rotating-drum signs that can be used for closing roads or moving traffic to other roadways).
#Electronic VMS: signs with remotely controlled messages displayed on them; the messages are sent from the State Traffic Management Center, updating the signs automatically.
#Variable speed limit signs - used for varying the posted speed limits within work zones and in emergencies.
#Portable VMS: movable "electronic VMS". A portable VMS has much the same characteristics as a fixed electronic VMS, but can be moved from location to location as the need dictates.

Usage

Early models required an operator to be physically present when programming a message, whereas newer models may be reprogrammed remotely via a wired or wireless network or cellphone connection.

A complete message on a panel generally includes a problem statement indicating incident, roadwork, stalled vehicle etc.; a location statement indicating where the incident is located; an effect statement indicating lane closure, delay, etc. and an action statement giving suggestion what to do traffic conditions ahead. These signs are also used for Amber alert messages, and in some states, Silver and Blue Alert messages.

In some places, VMSes are set up with permanent, semi-static displays indicating predicted travel times to important traffic destinations such as major cities or interchanges along the route of a highway.

Typical messages provide the following information:

*Promotional messages about services provided by a road authority during non-critical hours, such as carpooling efforts, travelers' information stations and 5-1-1 lines
*Crashes, including vehicle spin-out or rollover
*Road Works
*Incidents affecting normal traffic flow in a lane or on shoulders
*Non-recurring congestion, often a residual effect of cleared crash
*Closures of an entire road, e.g. over a mountain pass in winter.
*Exit ramp closures
* Debris on roadway
*Vehicle fires
*Wildfires
*Short-term maintenance or construction lasting less than three days
*Pavement failure alerts
*AMBER, Silver, and Blue Alerts, as well as weather warnings via the warning infrastructure of NOAA Weather Radio's SAME system
*Travel times
*Variable speed limits
*Car park occupancy levels
* speed sign, for recommending a speed to approach the next traffic light in its green phase.

The information comes from a variety of traffic monitoring and surveillance systems. It is expected that by providing real-time information on special events on the oncoming road, VMS can improve motorists' route selection, reduce travel time, mitigate the severity and duration of incidents and improve the performance of the transportation network.

United Kingdom

File:UK traffic sign 6001.jpg, Temporary advisory speed limit of 50 mph.
File:UK traffic sign 6006.10.jpg, End of temporary restrictions.
File:UK traffic sign 6006.5.jpg, Lane 2 is closed ahead.
File:UK traffic sign 6006.1.jpg, Lane 2 and 3 are closed ahead.
File:UK traffic sign 6006.3.jpg, Lane 1 is closed ahead.
File:UK traffic sign 6006.7.jpg, Lane 1 is closed ahead.
File:UK traffic sign 6003.jpg, Leave the motorway at the next junction.
File:UK traffic sign 6006.4.jpg, Both lanes are closed.*
File:UK traffic sign 6006.2.jpg, All three lanes are closed.*
File:UK traffic sign 6006.6.jpg, All 4 lanes are closed.*
File:UK traffic sign 6006.8.jpg, Risk of ice ahead.
File:UK traffic sign 6006.9.jpg, Risk of Fog ahead
File:UK traffic sign 6031.1.jpg, Do not use the lane below the signal.

* Do not enter the motorway when the red lamps are flashing in pairs from side to side.

On 27 March 1972, the first motorway computer-controlled warning lights in the UK, with 59 miles on the M6 from Broughton, Lancashire to Barthomley, on the Cheshire boundary, and 26 miles on the M62 east of Whitefield, was switched on by Michael Heseltine and Charles Legh Shuldham Cornwall-Legh, 5th Baron Grey of Codnor at the headquarters of Cheshire Constabulary on Nuns Road.

It was centred at a police computer centre at Westhoughton

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