California Partners for Advanced Transportation Technology

The specific objective of this study is to assess traveler behavior impacts of Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) technologies and the consequent system impacts at highway bottlenecks caused by incidents and recurring congestion. This research is based on earlier work regarding impacts of congestion on traveler behavior and system performance in the presence of information. In this paper, the authors enhance the previous work and develop a richer and more comprehensive approach for evaluating ATIS technologies. The unique features of this study are: 1) integration of traveler behavior and system performance in the context of ATIS. It is based upon a dynamic network performance model (queuing) that incorporates a behavioral model responsive to traffic information; 2) exploration of unsaturated and over-saturated conditions; and, 3) the possibility of congesting alternate routes as well as the issue of user equilibrium.