Drivers’ Response to In-Vehicle Route Guidance Information Systems: An Experiemnt with a Mock-Up Guidance System.

The paper reports an exploratory study, using an unusual technique to investigate drivers' response to in-vehicle route guidance information systems. Eighteen drivers were recruited, and asked to make a series of three trips in an unfamiliar area. Each driver was given turning advice, via a speech synthesiser, on one of these trips. This advice was based on average traffic conditions for the time of day. Unbeknown to the drivers, the advice was in fact triggered by the experimenter, who was riding as a back-seat passenger. Details were kept of times and routes taken with and without guidance, and with different levels of network familiarity. Records were also kept (using questionnaires and video and audio recording) of planning and route-following strategies. As expected, both receipt of guidance and even very rudimentary network familiarity resulted in reduced journey times, and routes closer to the guidance recommendations. The study indicated that factors including the directness of possible routes, their perceived complexity, and familiarity all affect route choice, but to different extents for different individuals and under different circumstances. Error was shown to be important in determining the route actually followed when guidance was withheld. The study showed that giving in-vehicle guidance using the mock-up technique described is practicable, and does influence drivers' route-choice and route-following behaviour. A possible future study is outlined, aimed at identifying the determinants of the drivers' level of compliance with advice when they believe that advice is based on real-time traffic information

Microsimulation models incorporating both demand and supply dynamics

There has been rapid growth in interest in real-time transport strategies over the last decade, ranging from automated highway systems and responsive traffic signal control to incident management and driver information systems. The complexity of these strategies, in terms of the spatial and temporal interactions within the transport system, has led to a parallel growth in the application of traffic microsimulation models for the evaluation and design of such measures, as a remedy to the limitations faced by conventional static, macroscopic approaches. However, while this naturally addresses the immediate impacts of the measure, a difficulty that remains is the question of how the secondary impacts, specifically the effect on route and departure time choice of subsequent trips, may be handled in a consistent manner within a microsimulation framework. The paper describes a modelling approach to road network traffic, in which the emphasis is on the integrated microsimulation of individual trip-makers’ decisions and individual vehicle movements across the network. To achieve this it represents directly individual drivers’ choices and experiences as they evolve from day-to-day, combined with a detailed within-day traffic simulation model of the space–time trajectories of individual vehicles according to car-following and lane-changing rules and intersection regulations. It therefore models both day-to-day and within-day variability in both demand and supply conditions, and so, we believe, is particularly suited for the realistic modelling of real-time strategies such as those listed above. The full model specification is given, along with details of its algorithmic implementation. A number of representative numerical applications are presented, including: sensitivity studies of the impact of day-to-day variability; an application to the evaluation of alternative signal control policies; and the evaluation of the introduction of bus-only lanes in a sub-network of Leeds. Our experience demonstrates that this modelling framework is computationally feasible as a method for providing a fully internally consistent, microscopic, dynamic assignment, incorporating both within- and between-day demand and supply dynamic

Transportation network companies as cost reduction strategies for paratransit

Paratransit service is an auxiliary type of public transportation provided for people with disabilities and older adults. Federal ADA regulations require all transit agencies receiving federal funding to provide paratransit service, but the per trip cost to transit operators is extremely expensive. Many transit agencies are looking for ways to reduce costs without limiting services. For many agencies, this results in providing the minimum services as required by ADA regulations. However, Boston’s Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) has taken a different approach to cost reduction by entering into one of the first partnerships with transportation network companies. In September 2016, MBTA’s paratransit service, The Ride, began a partnership with both Uber and Lyft as a cost reduction strategy for paratransit provision. Since the beginning of the partnership, MBTA has been able to reduce costs of providing paratransit while maintaining the same level of service. This report will examine the benefits and limitations of such partnerships between transit agencies and transportation network companies, using MBTA’s The Ride partnership as an example for potentially successful partnerships throughout the United States.Community and Regional Plannin

Sharing Mobility Data for Planning and Policy Research

A California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) rulemaking and possible legislative action in 2020 could affect data sharing requirements, with implications for shared mobility providers. The purpose of this brief is to inform this regulatory and legislative decision-making. We solicited policy and planning questions and data needs for shared mobility from within the University of California Institute of Transportation Studies research network. We defined shared mobility as including shared mobility devices, such as e-bikes and e-scooters, and transportation network companies (TNCs). We evaluated whether data shared in accordance with each of six mobility data specifications could be used to support analyses that would answer these questions. We then defined three approaches to data sharing and analysis to address these and other questions, presenting the advantages and disadvantages of each. This brief does not address the full breadth of the questions raised in the CPUC rulemaking nor does it introduce the complexities of this topic. Beyond the scope of this brief are issues of user privacy, the legal authority for sharing data, and contractual or requirements for each possible model of data sharing and analysis

The Evaluation of Route Guidance Systems

BACKGROUND We were commissioned by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory to: "collaborate with the German government and their representatives who are responsible for conducting the LISB trial in Berlin in order to produce an agreed methodology, which is acceptable in both Germany and the UK, for assessing the automatic route guidance systems which will be provided in Berlin and London." The brief suggested a number of aspects to be included, and required detailed proposals, timescales and costs for implementation in London. 1.1.2 The background to the brief lies in decisions to introduce pilot automatic route guidance systems in the two cities. The principles of the systems are similar, and have been described in detail elsewhere (Jeffery, 1987). In brief, they involve : (i) a central computer which retains information on a specified road network, which is updated using real time information from the equipment users; (ii) infra red beacons at selected junctions which transmit information to equipped vehicles and receive information from those vehicles; (iii) in-vehicle equipment which includes a dead-reckoning system for position finding, a device for requesting guidance and specifying the destination, a micro-computer which selects the optimal route, and a display which indicates when a turn is required on the main network, and the compass direction and distance to the final destination; iv) transmission from the equipped vehicles of origin, requested destination, links used since passing the last beacon and, for each link, the time of entry and departure and time spent delayed. It is this travel time information which is used to update the central computer's knowledge of the best routes. (Continues..

Traveller Behaviour: Decision making in an unpredictable world

This paper discusses the nature and consequences of uncertainty in transport systems. Drawing on work from a number of fields, it addresses travellers’ abilities to predict variable phenomena, their perception of uncertainty, their attitude to risk and the various strategies they might adopt in response to uncertainty. It is argued that despite the increased interest in the representation of uncertainty in transport systems, most models treat uncertainty as a purely statistical issue and ignore the psychological aspects of response to uncertainty. The principle theories and models currently used to predict travellers’ response to uncertainty are presented and number of alternative modelling approaches are outlined. It is argued that the current generation of predictive models do not provide an adequate basis for forecasting response to changes in the degree of uncertainty or for predicting the likely effect of providing additional information. A number of alternative modelling approaches are identified to deal with travellers’ acquisition of information, the definition of their choice set and their choice between the available options. The use of heuristic approaches is recommended as an alternative to more conventional probabilistic methods

Using Travel Simulation to Investigate Driver Response to In-Vehicle Route Guidance Systems,

A major application for developed satellite navigation systems is the in-vehicle route guidance market. As systems become cheaper to purchase and easier to install and indeed car manufacturers begin to fit the equipment as standard in new vehicles, the potential market for such systems in the developed world is massive. But what are the consequences of giving navigational assistance to car drivers? How will drivers respond to this information? Such information is liable to have a big impact upon driver route choice behaviour and is also subject to their interpretation of the guidance and action upon receiving it. This response may change under different travel circumstances. The impact of collective response to driver guidance is also of importance to traffic engineers and city planners, since routing through environmentally sensitive areas or heavily congested corridors should be avoided. The overall network effects are therefore of key importance to ensure efficient routing and minimal disruption to the road network. It is quite difficult to observe real-life behaviour on a consistent basis, since there are so many confounding variables in the real-world, traffic is never the same two days running, let alone hour by hour and a rigorous experimental environment is required, since control of experimental conditions is paramount to being able to confidently predict driver behaviour in response to navigational aids. Also the take up of guidance systems is still in its infancy, so far available only to a niche market of specialist professionals and those with disposable income. A need to test the common publics’ response to route guidance systems is therefore required. The development of travel simulation techniques, using portable computers and specialist software, gives robust experimental advantages. Although not totally realistic of the driving task, these techniques are sufficient in their realism of the decision element of route selection, enough to conduct experimental studies into drivers’ route choice behaviour under conditions of receiving simulated guidance advice. In this manner driver response to in-vehicle route guidance systems can be tested under a range of hypothetical journey making travel scenarios. This paper will outline the development of travel simulation techniques as a tool for in-vehicle route guidance research, including different methods and key simulation design requirements. The second half of the paper will report in detail on the findings from a recently conducted experiment investigating drivers’ response to route guidance when in familiar and unfamiliar road networks. The results will indicate the importance of providing meaningful information to drivers under these two real-life circumstances and report on how demands for route guidance information may vary by type of journey. Findings indicate that the guidance acceptance need not only depend on the optimum route choice criteria, it is also affected by network familiarity, quality and credibility of guidance advice and personal attributes of the drivers

Pricing Methods

In order to consider the range of pricing methods available, it is first necessary to choose a definition for road pricing. The term "road pricing" has been criticised as an inaccurate description of systems which is applied to (Thompson, 1990) and there is some inconsistency regarding the extent of charging policies which are considered to be included. A liberal definition could cover any fiscal form of traffic restraint, affecting the mode, time, route, destination of frequency of journeys. In this case road pricing already exists worldwide through taxes imposed upon the purchase and licensing of vehicles and through fuel taxation. The extension of conventional taxation arrangements has been used as part of road pricing strategies in both Hong Kong and Singapore (Dawson and Brown, 1985; LPAC, 1991). However, the essence of most road pricing work has been to replace and supplement these existing charges, which do not discriminate by time, location or amount of vehicle use, with charging structures which are directly related to these issues. For this reason the descriptions road-use pricing, congestion pricing and road user charging are sometimes preferred, and some recent texts have attempted to impose a narrower definition for road pricing, in which only charging systems relating directly to the time and distance travelled are included (CIT, 1992). For the purposes of this review it is best to retain the conventional term of road pricing and apply the broadest definition

In loco intellegentia: Human factors for the future European train driver

The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) represents a step change in technology for rail operations in Europe. It comprises track-to-train communications and intelligent on-board systems providing an unprecedented degree of support to the train driver. ERTMS is designed to improve safety, capacity and performance, as well as facilitating interoperability across the European rail network. In many ways, particularly from the human factors perspective, ERTMS has parallels with automation concepts in the aviation and automotive industries. Lessons learned from both these industries are that such a technology raises a number of human factors issues associated with train driving and operations. The interaction amongst intelligent agents throughout the system must be effectively coordinated to ensure that the strategic benefits of ERTMS are realised. This paper discusses the psychology behind some of these key issues, such as Mental Workload (MWL), interface design, user information requirements, transitions and migration and communications. Relevant experience in aviation and vehicle automation is drawn upon to give an overview of the human factors challenges facing the UK rail industry in implementing ERTMS technology. By anticipating and defining these challenges before the technology is implemented, it is hoped that a proactive and structured programme of research can be planned to meet them