Operations at Regional Travel Information Centers: The Case of the TravInfo Field Operational Test - Final Results

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 September 1996 to September 1998 with funding from the Federal Highway Administration and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). 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 Bay Area. Information was disseminated directly to users via a telephone service and indirectly through information service providers who in turn disseminated the information.

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the operation of TravInfo's Traveler Information Center (TIC) with a focus on its operation by a private sector contractor. This evaluation was performed using various data sources from field observations and field measurements. The evaluation examined TIC effectiveness in terms of system reliability, the communications interface, and operator work setting and performance. The evaluation also examined TIC effectiveness in from an organizational perspective.

Findings

Inductive loop sensor data provided by the Caltrans Traffic Operations System were initially expected to be a major source of data for TravInfo. However, they were not used as extensively as anticipated. Instead, the most significant data source was the California Highway Patrol Computer-Aided Dispatch incident reports. These reports had to be manually entered into the TravInfo system by TIC operators. This process was both time-consuming and difficult to perform along with the other duties of the TIC operators. Automating the data entry process, which was part of the TIC system's original specifications, could speed operators' response times and increase the number of incidents they could process, although it is likely that operators would still need to intervene in the interpretation of some incident reports.

The TravInfo system is not as efficient as originally envisioned because of its heavier-than expected dependence on the manual performance of jobs by the TIC operators. TravInfo needs an automated system that is flexible enough to keep up with rapidly advancing technologies. As the system becomes more automated, the organizational structure of the TIC can become more efficient than it was during the field operational test. The TIC staff should be consulted for ways to improve the system as they are the ones who will ultimately work with it.