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Applied Sciences
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Road Markings: Technologies, Materials, and Traffic Safety
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Road Markings: Technologies, Materials, and Traffic Safety

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Transportation and Future Mobility".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2026 | Viewed by 2122

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Darko Babic

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: traffic signalization; road safety; driver behaviour; logistics
Dr. Tomasz E. Burghardt

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Guest Editor
M. Swarovski GmbH, 3363 Neufurth, Austria
Interests: road markings; glass beads; retroreflectivity; microplastics; sustainability; driver behaviour; road safety
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

The road markings are considered inalienable elements of roadway safety infrastructure. Their influence on the behaviour of drivers—both human and the emerging automated driver—is well documented. Nonetheless, there is a plethora of research voids in this area that need to be filled—your contributions to these topics would valuably enhance the knowledge base.

From the perspective of materials, road markings belong to industrial maintenance coatings; they are deteriorating systems that need periodic maintenance. New materials and new technologies are becoming available and their employment for marking roads may bring breakthrough performance. Simultaneously, this brings the aspects of sustainability and possible emissions – submissions on these environmental topics are welcome and needed for gaining deeper understanding of the areas where interventions are needed.

Hence, we are pleased to invite you to submit your manuscripts—both original research papers and reviews—to this Special Issue. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  1. Influence of road markings on human road users’ behaviour and traffic safety.
  2. Skid resistance and other functional properties of road markings as examples of practical, immediate effects on the safety of unprotected road users.
  3. Effects that road markings have on the reliability of automated driving.
  4. Materials for road markings and their application: new insights into existing technologies and emerging concepts.
  5. Environmental sustainability aspects of road markings.
  6. Degradation of road markings and their contribution to environmental pollution.
  7. Any other issues associated with road markings, with special emphasis on their materials.

We look forward to receiving your contributions,

Prof. Dr. Darko Babic
Dr. Tomasz E. Burghardt
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • road markings
  • pavement markings
  • thermoplastic markings
  • waterborne paints
  • retroreflectivity
  • smart road markings
  • photoluminescent materials
  • anti-skid coatings
  • durable markings
  • nighttime visibility
  • wet-night visibility
  • contrast ratio
  • colour durability
  • abrasion resistance
  • road safety
  • horizontal signage
  • longitudinal markings
  • transverse markings
  • road marking robots
  • intelligent transportation systems
  • marking degradation
  • skid resistance
  • friction properties
  • maintenance strategies
  • life cycle assessment
  • driver behaviour
  • marking detection
  • machine vision
  • roadway infrastructure
  • road maintenance strategy

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 12925 KB  
Article
From Detection to Inspection: A Virtual Reference Framework for Automated Road Marking Degradation Assessment
by Térence Bordet, Maxime Redondin, Stefan Bornhofen, Sébastien Denaës and Aymeric Histace
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(9), 4091; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16094091 - 22 Apr 2026
Viewed by 277
Abstract
Ensuring the visibility of road markings is critical for traffic safety, yet current inspection methods remain either prohibitively expensive (retroreflectivity) or subjective (manual assessment). This article introduces the Random Generated Reference (RGR) method, a novel automated solution for quantifying marking degradation using a [...] Read more.
Ensuring the visibility of road markings is critical for traffic safety, yet current inspection methods remain either prohibitively expensive (retroreflectivity) or subjective (manual assessment). This article introduces the Random Generated Reference (RGR) method, a novel automated solution for quantifying marking degradation using a standard on-board camera. The proposed pipeline is a complete protocol from video acquisition to road marking inspection and validation of the inspection that combines deep learning with computer vision: YOLOv8 is employed for robust detection, while a unique algorithm generates a “perfect virtual reference” that dynamically replicates the real scene’s geometry and illumination conditions, including shadows. By computing pixel-level deviations between the observed marking and this ideal reference, the system assigns a continuous degradation score aligned with the UK CS126 standard. Experimental validation was conducted on a real-world circuit yielding over 20,000 detections. Verification via Cochran sampling demonstrates that 68% of the automated assessments fall within one class of human inspection. This proof-of-concept confirms the viability of an approach based on generating the ground truth and scene conditions—such as illumination, shadows, rain, traffic, etc.—for road marking inspection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Markings: Technologies, Materials, and Traffic Safety)
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21 pages, 2947 KB  
Article
Effects of Ultraviolet Irradiance and Temperature on the Yellowing Behavior of White Pavement Markings
by Teng Liu, Aolin Yu, Jiangbi Hu, Qingyun Cao and Ming Zhang
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(4), 1744; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16041744 - 10 Feb 2026
Viewed by 404
Abstract
Pavement markings are critical traffic safety facilities that provide continuous and clear visual guidance to road users, thereby supporting traffic order and driving safety. During long-term service, however, white pavement markings are prone to yellowing under ultraviolet (UV) irradiance and elevated temperatures, which [...] Read more.
Pavement markings are critical traffic safety facilities that provide continuous and clear visual guidance to road users, thereby supporting traffic order and driving safety. During long-term service, however, white pavement markings are prone to yellowing under ultraviolet (UV) irradiance and elevated temperatures, which may reduce visibility. This study conducted accelerated aging tests on white thermoplastic and two-component pavement markings under four levels of ultraviolet irradiance (0–1.5 W/m2 at 340 nm) and temperature (20–80 °C) to quantitatively characterize the macroscopic evolution of yellowing (YI) under controlled environmental conditions. Generalized linear mixed-effects models (GLMMs) were then used to quantify the effects of UV exposure, temperature, and time on the yellowing behavior of white pavement markings. The results indicate that temperature is a key environmental driver of YI increases. UV irradiance also has a pronounced promoting effect, and the yellowing responses differ markedly between material types. The results clarify how UV irradiance, thermal conditions, and material systems jointly influence the yellowing behavior of white pavement markings, providing a scientific basis for evaluating anti-yellowing performance, improving durability design, and guiding engineering applications under complex environmental conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Markings: Technologies, Materials, and Traffic Safety)
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18 pages, 653 KB  
Article
Condition Assessment of Road Markings in Denmark, Norway and Sweden—A Comparison Between Retroreflectivity, Visibility and Preview Time
by Anna Vadeby and Carina Fors
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(23), 12788; https://doi.org/10.3390/app152312788 - 3 Dec 2025
Viewed by 872
Abstract
Longitudinal road markings provide visual guidance for drivers and are essential for safe driving, particularly at night. The aim of this study is to investigate possible differences in road marking performance, with regard to retroreflectivity, visibility and preview time between Denmark, Norway and [...] Read more.
Longitudinal road markings provide visual guidance for drivers and are essential for safe driving, particularly at night. The aim of this study is to investigate possible differences in road marking performance, with regard to retroreflectivity, visibility and preview time between Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The results are compared to current recommendations and regulations regarding road marking performance in the three countries. This study is based on condition assessments of 30,000 km of edge road markings from 2017 to 2021. The results showed that the performance requirement fulfillment for retroreflectivity of white road markings (150 mcd/m2/lx) is 38% in Denmark, 65% in Norway and 66% in Sweden. No large differences in dry road marking performance were found between the three countries. The performance regarding all variables was rather stable during the five years investigated. The mean preview time was 4.7 s in Sweden, 4.9 s in Norway and 5.6 s in Denmark. The observed preview times are higher than the recommended minimum preview times (ranging from 1.8 to 3.65 s) found in the literature. The results do not raise any need for revision of the current regulations regarding road marking retroreflectivity and geometry in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Markings: Technologies, Materials, and Traffic Safety)
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