Traveler Information Delivery Mechanisms

Advanced traveler information systems (ATISs) help individuals make informed travel decisions. Current ATIS applications encompass a variety of delivery mechanisms, including the Internet, telephone, television, radio, variable message signs, and in-vehicle navigation devices to support decisions about destinations, travel mode, departure time, routes, parking, and trip cancellation. It is important for researchers and practitioners to review the status of ATIS technologies and to understand travelers’ access and response to current ATIS deployment. Focusing on largely public-sector delivery mechanisms, this study answers two fundamental questions: whether accessing more information sources is associated with a higher likelihood of travel decision adjustments and which technologies are more likely to elicit substantive adjustments to routine travel. These questions are answered by using a comprehensive and recent behavioral data set, collected in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina. The study generates useful knowledge about how to operate existing traveler information systems more efficiently and how to improve them in the future.