The State of Transfer Systems: An Analytical Study With Respect to Human Information Recognition—An Approach From a Smooth Transfer System in Marine Transportation

The purpose of this research is to examine in detail provision of signs for ensuring smooth movement, conducted by transportation companies at traffic nodes, and to identify future issues to be solved for maintenance of marine-based traffic nodes. To this end, as the study site, we selected the City of Hiroshima in Japan, where a wide variety of traffic nodes, such as railroads, streetcars, buses, and ferries, are available. In particular, as main facilities to be studied, we focused on Ujina Terminal, which is a marine traffic node, and Hiroshima Station, which is an onshore traffic node. We examined the current status of and problems with facility plans and sign plans at traffic nodes through field exploration of the City of Hiroshima and questionnaires with tourists. As a result, it was found that in order to formulate a sign plan that can ensure security, cooperation with not only land traffic nodes but also marine traffic nodes will be an important issue in future when providing signs at marine traffic nodes for ensuring smooth movement.