Evaluation of TravInfo Field Operational Test: Final Report

Problem

TravInfo is a regional traveler information system in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was a Field Operational Test (FOT) over a two-year period from Septembar 1996 to September 1998 with funding from the Federal Highway Administration and the California Department of Transportation.

The goal of TravInfo was to broadly disseminate accurate, comprehensive, timely, and reliable information on traffic conditions and multi-modal travel options to the public in the San Francisco Bay Area. Organizationally, TravInfo was structured around a collaborative partnership between public and private participants. Operationally, the system was built on an open-architecture concept to make its regional database easily accessible to all interested parties.

The core of TravInfo was its Traveler Information Center (TIC) which was created for the FOT. The center collects and processes traffic information for dissemination directly to the public through its Traveler Advisory Telephone System (TATS) and to information service providers for dissemination through the Web and other advanced traveler information products.

The FOT attempted to measure how well TravInfo performed in four major areas: building a regional traveler information system with the collaboration of public and private parties; providing improved travel information to the public; stimulating the creation of a commercial market for advanced traveler information products, and ultimately enhancing the entire Bay Area transportation system. This last area of evaluation was ultimately not considered due to insufficient data, difficulty in finding a suitable method of measurement, and insufficient use of advanced traveler information products among the public.

Findings

TravInfo's primary success lay in developing a network of public and private professionals who collaborated on advanced traveler information system projects in a variety of settings and providing a platform for different organizations to create networks and form partnerships.

The major challenges of the TravInfo FOT were notably similar to those of other FOTs. Among them were setting ambitious project goals that were unattainable within the limited time reserved for the field test; underestimating the extensive time required to develop mutual understanding and trust among parties with varying objectives; underestimating the uncertainty of the consume market for commercialization of traveler information products and services; defining appropriate roles for the parties involved; and appreciating the importance of having enough time and funds to market the product and convince people to use it.