National Electrical Manufacturers Association

Hardware Standards for Dynamic Message Signs (DMS) With NTCIP Requirements
 N TS 4

Annotation

SCOPE AND INTRODUCTION

The goal of this standard is to provide the user with safe, dependable, functional, and easily maintained Dynamic Message Sign (DMS) equipment.

The requirements of this standard were developed by industry consensus, taking into account current user needs, available commercial technologies, engineering research, traffic engineering applications, human factors engineering, and engineering judgment.

NEMA Bylaws require the periodic review and updating of this standard. Further updates should include the evaluation of new technologies and research.

Original quantitative research is not within the scope or resources of this committee. Said research by others is encouraged and should be considered by the reviewing committee in support of the updating process.

The scope of this document is to define the minimum hardware and functional characteristics of electronically controlled Dynamic Message Signs used for displaying messages to travelers.

The intent of this standard is to eventually accommodate all subsets of the DMS family. However, this initial version predominantly addresses the Variable Message Sign subset.

In preparing this standard, the committee began with a very comprehensive and encompassing scope of work that was later trimmed so the standard could be released at an earlier date. For almost every element described, arguments could be made to include additional information or less information.

Rather than debate these issues internally and eternally within the Committee, the consensus was that greater benefit would be served from end user input derived through a first implementation of a standard with a reduced scope. With this in mind, the committee anticipates that a second, market driven version of this standard will include further end user input discovered from implementations and other work on the items intentionally tabled from this version.