California Partners for Advanced Transportation Technology

TravInfo is a Field Operational Test (FOT) in advanced traveler information systems (ATIS) for the San Francisco Bay Area sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The project involves a public/private partnership which seeks to compile, integrate and broadly disseminate timely and accurate multi-modal traveler information through commercial products and services. This working paper is part of the Technology Element of the TravInfo evaluation. It presents the results of the "before" wave of the Value-Added-Reseller (VAR) study, in which 17 TravInfo registered VARs and 16 non-registered VARs were interviewed. Interviews followed a semi-structured format, and covered the following issues: 1. Company profile; 2. Assessment of Current and Planned ATIS Products; 3. Assessment of the TravInfo Concept; 4. Perception of the ATIS Consumer Market and 5. Perception of TravInfo. From the interviews, it is clear that TravInfo has been effective in stimulating VAR business opportunities, that VARs support the project and intend to disseminate TravInfo information through their products. However, the future is uncertain. VAR participation will depend on their satisfaction with TravInfo's operations and data and on their perception of the size of the market for ATIS products and services.