Measuring the Impact of Advanced Transportation Technologies on Traveler Behavior

August 22, 2013

At what point do we begin to measure and manage the impact of travel information? Does better information about both traffic and transit influence traveler behavior with sizable route and mode shifts to merit monitoring? If so, how can we use the real-time information and incorporate it into network management practices?

Jane Lappin, senior social scientist at Volpe, The National Transportation Systems Center, discussed traveler behavior at a recent Transportation Trajectories event. (Volpe photo)

Travelers are active participants in transportation network operations, said Jane Lappin, a senior social scientist, at Volpe, The National Transportation Systems Center. Since 1997, a Volpe team surveyed over 16,000 travelers—most of them repeatedly. Volpe has analyzed over 30,000 surveys to learn how travelers use information and to better understand the impact of traveler information on their trip choices.

"Along the way, we've learned about and contributed to the market dynamics of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), how people use computers and mobile phones, and the role of information in transportation network performance," said Lappin during a recentTransportation Trajectories discussion. She shared a unique perspective that illustrates Volpe's work in this area and tells a story, over time, about how people travel on the nation's infrastructure.

Volpe has measured and evaluated traveler behavior in a number of metro areas, including Atlanta, Seattle, Los Angeles, Dallas, San Diego, and Cobb County Georgia. Volpe performed this work in support of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and ITS Joint Program Office.

In 1997, many households shared a single cell phone, and used dial-up internet with limited access. Radio was the primary source of traveler information. Today, people own smart phones, computers, and tablets. As the quality of the technology improves, the surveys show there is an uptick in the use of mobile, hand-held internet devices as the preferred method for obtaining advanced traveler-information services.

"We've found that age, education, income, and location predict many of our choices and behaviors," said Lappin. But there have been changes through the years. In 2003, traveler-information users tended to be older, educated, higher-income male commuters. In 2012, the male/female ratio was roughly equal and access by employed individuals across all income levels was more evenly distributed. Quality, convenience, and reliable information related to travel times and route options has also influenced traveler choices.

Survey data and focus group findings show that travelers are less inclined to change travel mode in response to information, but more likely to change their route and departure times.

"Good traffic and transit information is a good public investment," said Lappin. It improves customer satisfaction, optimizes trip choices, and creates value for drivers and transit users by allowing them to manage their time more effectively.

Funding Constraints Fuel New Paradigms in Federal Transportation Policy

August 15, 2013

Emil Frankel shared his insight on the significant reforms emerging from last year's surface transportation reauthorization at a recent Straight from the Source event.(Volpe photo)

"We are in a new environment…a time of constraint certainly at the fiscal level…that is driving changes in policy perspective," said Emil Frankel, a visiting scholar at the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) in Washington, D.C., and a former Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Frankel shared his insight on the significant reforms emerging from last year's surface transportation reauthorization, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), and future trends, at a recent Straight from the Source lecture at Volpe, The National Transportation System Center.

"We are actually in a period of change, despite the stagnation in federal funding," Frankel explained. "It's a period of change in identifying the…extent of the federal role in surface transportation and also the character and nature of it. Changes in national transportation policy are occurring; though they are incremental..."

Frankel pointed to the key elements of the ongoing paradigm shift in federal transportation policy:

• An increasing role for states and localities in transportation, despite their own budget challenges
• A gradual shift away from user-based support for investment in transportation infrastructure
• MAP-21's program consolidation and promotion of performance management principles
• A steady shift from federal funding to federal financing, programs that provide federal credit assistance such as direct loans or standby lines of credit to finance transportation projects

Frankel observed that the public seems unwilling to invest at a federal level to restore the nation's so-called "crumbling infrastructure," yet noted there is a broad acknowledgment it is aging, deteriorating, and in urban areas severely congested. The American public accepts these conditions "in lieu of supporting higher federal gasoline taxes or new kinds of user fees to invest in these facilities." Frankel said there is more success at the state and metropolitan levels in obtaining revenue increases, because people can connect to what they see or believe will be implemented. This is hard to do at the federal level.

Frankel outlined how to meet these pressing transportation challenges:

• clearly define the Federal role in surface transportation
• accept that transportation infrastructure funding is an investment in long-term economic growth
• make sure investment sources are long term and sustainable
• resolve investment issues impacting transportation spending on infrastructure
• make wiser decisions about transportation projects when investing scarce resources.

For more information on Volpe's thought leadership program, please contact, Ellen Bell, director of Strategic Initiatives for Research and Innovation.