CMS Message Guidelines

Guidelines for Message Contents and Formatting

Our job is to ensure that our CMS displays are informing and as easy to read as possible. It is therefore essential, that all PW employees follow the following guidelines when operating our CMS system.

• Limit each row of the CMS to just one unit of information if possible. Do not add more than two units of information per row if possible.

• No more than three units of information should be included in the entire message, at any time.

• If the board is displaying one unit of information, it may be spread across all 3 rows. However, Row B should contain the most words.

• Words & Place Names should not be split between the rows, if possible.

• The word 'EXIT' shall be used when referring to any road which directs traffic to exit a freeway.

• The word 'RAMP' shall be used when referring to any road which directs traffic to enter a freeway.

The following is strictly prohibited from being displayed on CMS Boards:

• Date and time (except as related to expected roadway or traffic conditions, such as planned closures or other events affecting traffic)

• Display of Web site or e-mail addresses, uniform resource locators (URL), domain names, metadata tags ("hashtags"), electronic device applications ("apps"), or similar forms

• Display of telephone numbers (except as specifically allowed)

• Display of statistics, such as highway fatalities or summonses issued

• Personal safety messages (e.g., WEAR SUN SCREEN)

• Promotional advertising (commercial or non-commercial)

• Public awareness campaigns unrelated to traffic operation or safety

• Public safety alerts (except homeland security and AMBER alerts as described herein)

• Public service announcements

• Sponsor acknowledgment

• Weather conditions or advisories (except as related to expected adverse road-weather conditions)

• Any use of video, motion, flashing, or other graphic features.

Formatting Examples

Below you can see an example of a correctly formatted CMS display. Each row contains a separate set of information and only 3 units of information are displayed on the entire board. In this example, Row A is advising drivers of the reason for the warning, Row B states the location of the warning and Row C commands the driver to take a specific action to avoid the warning - In this case it's COLLISION, AHEAD, SLOW DOWN.

Seen below is the same message but formatted incorrectly. As you can see, two sets of information have been merged together and split between two rows. In row B the CMS is displaying the location of the hazard 'AHEAD' and the beginning of the command to the driver 'SLOW'. The command is split apart between Rows B & C, leading to confusion and longer reading times. Two units of information can be displayed in the same row, but it should be avoided whenever possible.

One unit of information can be displayed across the entire CMS board if so desired. However, as stated above, Row B should be prioritized and contain the most words if possible. An example can be seen below, 'SLOW' is the only unit of information on this display and it is correctly placed in Row B. Placing this word in Rows A or C would be incorrect and highly discouraged.