In Europe, ITS studies found customer satisfaction with traveler information delivered via portable electronic devices, public access terminals, Internet web sites, and in-vehicle navigation devices ranged from 50 to 95 percent.
Date Posted
09/21/2000
Identifier
2007-B00389
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Telematics Applications Programme - Transport Areas' Results (4th Funding Programme)

Summary Information

This report summarizes the evaluation results for many ITS projects implemented in Europe between 1994 and 1998. The report describes the benefits with few details of the implementations or the context of the results; however, it references many different projects by name, and evaluation reports for each can be found elsewhere on the Telematics Application Programme -Transport Sector web page (see source reference information contained in the Source box).

RESULTS

  • A high user acceptance of traveler information delivered via portable electronic devices sometimes called personal travel assistants (PTA). In a Finnish project 1/3 third of users reported changing mode based on information provided, and 1/2 changed route based on the information. Another project reported 40 percent stating they had changed mode based on information from the PTA, while 15 to 25 percent were willing to start their journey earlier.
  • Six projects provided traveler information via public access terminals or fixed information terminals. User acceptance of the devices was high, cited projects report 79 to 95 percent of users finding the systems easy to use.
  • Internet information during six of the projects also had a high level of user acceptance, with 65 to 75 percent of respondents indicating that the information was easy to use and understand.
  • The results presented in the summary are less comprehensive for the impacts of the public access terminals and internet sites discussed above. Information in the report regards travelers’ willingness to alter their travel decisions based on the information provided rather than their responses to questions about their actual behavior.
  • Several projects implemented in-vehicle navigation (IVN) devices. The CLEOPATRA project in Turin, Italy demonstrated a time savings of more than 10 percent for cars equipped with the IVN devices. Customer satisfaction measures ranged from 50 to 75 percent of users expressing satisfaction with the devices. Notably, 20 percent of the test drivers in Rotterdam expressed concern over being distracted from the driving task.
  • Roadside driver information projects discussed in this report focussed on the impacts of messages displayed on dynamic message signs (DMS) and the effectiveness of different information strategies. A collaborative study among the various project found that 30 to 90 percent of drivers noticed DMS information. In Piraeus, Greece, the route guidance system combined with an integrated traffic control strategy led to a 16 percent reduction in travel time.
Deployment Locations