— What are Destination Dynamic Message Signs?
Destination Dynamic Message Signs look like regular green highway guide signs and can display dynamically changing travel times in minutes in the small black LED panel inserts. Currently, there are not many of these signs in Ohio but they will be first installed on I-75 between Dayton and Cincinnati.
Like the travel times on normal DMS, motorists can use these signs to get an idea of approximately how long it will take them to get to certain destinations based on the current conditions. For the sign above, the number of minutes is the same as the number of miles to get to SR-63 but the number of minutes is considerably higher than the number of miles to get to I-275, indicating that there may be congestion somewhere between SR-63 and I-275. In this case, motorists should expect delays or consider using an alternate route.
Contrary to DMS, DDMS can only display travel time information - no information regarding traffic conditions or road incidents can be conveyed by DDMS. In the case that the road is closed ahead, operators will replace the number of minutes with dashes (--) or X’s (XX), in which case numerical travel times would be irrelevant. By default, DDMS are in operation 24/7.
— What if no minutes are displayed on the DDMS?
In the event that nothing is displayed in electronic section of the sign to give travel times, motorists should not think that the road is closed. This indicates that there is a problem with being able to send the travel time minutes to the sign (could be a power outage or other type of problem). ODOT knows about these problems and will get the sign working again as soon as possible.