TravInfo was a Field Operational Test (FOT) sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and California Department of Transportation. It aimed to develop a multi-modal traveler information system for the San Francisco Bay Area, combining public and private sector talents. The Broad Area Study was part of the TravInfo FOT evaluation. It addressed issues on how travelers obtain traffic/transit information and how the information influences travel behavior. Two waves of telephone surveys of Bay Area households were conducted, one prior to and one after the Field Operational Test. The initial survey was conducted in November 1995, eight months prior to when the TravInfo FOT began; the final survey was conducted in November 1998, three months after the FOT was ended. The purposes of the Broad Area study were to establish a baseline traveler behavior of Bay Area households based on traveler information and to assess the impact of traveler information on the entire Bay Area traveling population. The surveys showed that there was little change in the way people obtain traveler information, but more people modified their travel behavior in 1998 than did in 1995 based on the traffic information. As shown in the 1995 survey, most people changed departure time or took an alternate route. Mode shift was fairly negligible in both surveys. Keywords: TravInfo traveler information travel behavior

The paper describes current trends in the traveler information supply system and the prospect for potential markets for advanced traveler information in the United States and Europe. Alternative revenue models are identified that may be able to support the operation of the newly created traveler information centers in the post-field operational test phase. In the past, public agencies have been reluctant to share traffic management responsibilities with the private sector. However, this study found that the current trend is toward a public-private partnership in the form of a franchised or revenue sharing program. In the United States and Europe, many private entrepreneurs are currently involved in beta testing their products and in assessing the business viability of advanced traveler information services. In Japan, several types of in-vehicle devices are already commercially available to the consumer. The market potential for privately offered advanced traveler information services in the United States and Europe is; however, yet to be determined since consumer purchase behavior for traveler information is largely unknown. The study investigated alternative revenue models that could support the operation of the newly created Traveler Information Centers in the post-field operational test phase. The interest was to explore the Traveler Information financing mechanisms for short- and long-term viability in Traveler Information Center operation. Keywords: Revenue Model, Market, Advanced Traveler Information System

As part of a continuing research on Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS), this report presents an institutional analysis of alternative approaches to sustaining publicly supported ATIS. The fifteen largest metropolitan regions in the US and the private sector efforts were investigated through a literature review and in-person and telephone interviews. The study goals were to investigate alternative revenue approaches to achieve a self sustaining ATIS, identify institutional barriers to achieving self-sustainability, and develop a framework of assumptions. Two public sector approaches are; publicly centered with ATIS principally serving public transportation management goals and ATIS market growth with an emphasis on building a self-sustaining ATIS based on products that will sell, using existing, tested technology. The private sector initiatives are dependent on commercialization: investments to set up regional ATIS functions and investment on a national infrastructure. Institutional barriers impeding sustainability include: need for continuity of leadership, inter-jurisdictirional disputes, retaining technical expertise, maintaining public-private partnerships, and deploying interoperability standards. Keywords: Advanced Traveler Information Systems, institutional barriers, revenue models

TravInfo was a federally funded Field Operational Test (FOT) of the Advanced Traveler Information System (ATIS) in the San Francisco Bay Area. The general public can obtain most current traveler information through TravInfo's Traveler Advisory Telephone System (TATS) and privately offered information services including traffic Web sites. As part of the TravInfo FOT Evaluation, two waves of TATS callers were surveyed. The first wave of the TATS caller survey was conducted in April 1997. The second wave TATS caller survey was completed in April 1999. This paper presents the findings of the second survey of TravInfo 817-1717 callers. The second survey used basically the same survey instrument to compare the results with the initial survey of April 1997. The key findings of the second survey were that although TATS has not substantially increased its customer base, it has been effective in providing quality information and in maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction. Offering easy access to traveler information via a single telephone number was one of the highly desirable features of TravInfo TATS. Key Words: Traveler information, TravInfo evaluation, Field Operational Test.

This paper reports on the first phase of the location technology evaluation for probe vehicles. Two technologies were evaluated, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and the cellular phone tracking technology developed by US Wireless. Although GPS has shown great potential for vehicle probes, much of the previous research is theoretical in nature. Very little work has been done in the areas of experimental research, implementation or deployment. Most of the field tests were anecdotal; a systematic approach is highly desired to develop a vehicle probe system that is reliable and efficient for traffic management. If GPS is widely deployed in cellular phones, as GTE in 1998 predicted would happen, GPS technology will become even more attractive and realistic for vehicle probe activities. A custom software package was developed as part of this project in order to conduct the technology evaluation. The software, the Travel Information Probe System (TIPS) maps positions of probes of arbitrary accuracy to an embedded Geographical Information System (GIS) in order to determine the path the probe took. Once the path has been determined, the software calculates the travel time for each road segment traversed. The preliminary analysis of two Bay Area counties showed that accurate location technologies are capable of producing travel time information for nearly all roads. A technology with 20-meter accuracy can produce data for 99.2% of road segments and 98.9% of the freeway segments in the two counties studied.

This paper presents the preliminary findings of a first wave Broad Area survey, administered in November 1995, of the TravInfo Field Operation Test in the San Francisco Bay Area. The purpose of the survey was to define baseline attitudes, opinions and travel behavior of travelers for assessment of the general impact of TravInfo. Questions focused on trip characteristics, acquisition patterns of information, effects of traffic information on travel behavior and the demographic profiles of Bay Area travelers.

An aging population in the US, low-density urban sprawl and the accessibility needs of certain groups (particularly disabled and aged) increasingly point to more flexible demand-responsive transit systems in the future. This paper describes the important aspects of a consumer-oriented Personalized Demand Responsive Transit (PDRT) service. The system will provide services to the traveling public for journeys to work and for journeys to other destinations. A PDRT that responds to the travelers' needs and takes advantage of the emerging advanced public transportation technologies to increase efficiency may be successful and sustainable in the long term. To understand travelers' willingness to use and pay for PDRT, focus groups and a CATI (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview) survey of automobile and transit travelers were conducted in the San Francisco Bay Area. The objective was to investigate service attributes that will attract travelers to PDRT. Specifically, we examine the factors that are likely to influence the decision to take "on-demand" PDRT (similar to a taxi service with a van making multiple pick-ups) and "fixed-schedule" PDRT (pick-ups and drop-offs are made at fixed but convenient locations). The results of six focus groups and the survey indicate that the idea of a personalized transit service may appeal to commuters as well as non-commuters. There is significant potential to attract travelers to PDRT; about 15% (N=1000) of those surveyed reported that they were "very likely" to use the PDRT service and another 47.7% (N=1000) were willing to consider PDRT as an option. A majority of these PDRT pre-disposed were willing to pay between $5-$10 for a 30 minute trip using fixed-schedule service (62%; N=627) and on-demand service (73.0%; N=642). A majority of the PDRT predisposed were also willing to use the service despite an average 20-minute wait time for pickup and 54.5% were willing to take PDRT despite it taking 15 to 20 minutes longer than their current commute or most frequent trip. Responses to attitudinal questions revealed a strong (positive) preference for flexibility in scheduling pick-up times, conducting criminal/driving background checks on all van drivers and being dropped off at the front door after dark (for safety reasons). The results show that a reasonably priced PDRT service that is reliable and meets customer expectations (of cost, travel time and wait time) can be successful. Respondents were quite realistic in their expectations about the PDRT service attributes, especially the longer travel times and wait times involved in using PDRT. More detailed findings and their implications are discussed in the report.

Providing easy access to the public transit service is the goal of the California transit agencies. Many travelers cannot take an express transit because they often cannot park and ride. Smart DRT (demand responsive transit) Feeder is a system that collects transit riders from neighborhoods and takes them to transit stations. This system will use APTS (Advanced Public Transit System) technologies to make the feeder service convenient and reliable. The concept is very simple. When demand is high, Smart Feeder will use the fixed-route fixedschedule service. When demand is low, it will use the on-demand service. For the on-demand service, customers will use an automated dial-a-ride system or the Internet for making a reservation or receiving a confirmation. Feeder vehicles will be equipped with Automated Vehicle Location (AVL) and on-board wireless computer devices. The first part of this paper describes the results of a user survey on the demand for and on the desired characteristics of a Smart Feeder system for the city of Millbrae. The second part of the paper describes the resulting design and implementation of the automated dial-a-ride system that will be used for the demand responsive transit service. The system uses an automated phone-in system for reservations, computerized dispatching over a wireless communication channel to the bus driver, and an automated callback system for customer notifications. User requests for pickup are collected and a computerized scheduling system acts as a broker between the multiple user requests and the transit agency to determine the optimal departure time and route that minimizes customer wait time and maximizes the number of passengers per trip. The system requires no dispatchers and operates in real time without requiring advance reservations.

The TravInfo project aims to develop a multi-modal traveler information system for the San Francisco Bay Area, developing a partnership between the public and private sectors. This report presents the results of the first wave of institutional interviews, as part of the TravInfo evaluation.

This report presents the results of year two of the institutional evaluation of the TravInfo Field Operational Test (FOT). Numerous core participants and committee members were interviewed. The second year was dominated by TravInfo implementation issues, chief among which were: resolution of public/private controversies in the design of TravInfo and the attempt to ensure the completion of Caltrans' Traffic Operations System (TOS) for meeting the TravInfo schedule. Based on the interviews, the TravInfo organization is viewed at having been effective in resolving these issues.