TravInfo Evaluation (Technology Element) Traveler Information Center (TIC) Study: Operator Interface Component-Phase IV: Institutional Analysis

Problem and Method

Overwhelmingly, all survey respondents felt that the TIC was effective in achieving its goal of providing timely, complete, user-friendly, and accurate information to the public and private sectors, given the constraints and available resources. The barriers to meeting the goal of the TIC included:

• uncertain availability of reliable and accurate automated data
• delays related to ongoing contractual issues between the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the system developer, and
• a computer interface that both did not adequately meet TIC operator needs and responsibilities and did not have the level of automation that was originally envisioned.

Some problems were found that negatively impacted operator effectiveness which could have been addressed earlier and more completely by TIC operations. These included lack of operator quality-control measures until the FOT was 75 percent complete and insufficiently frequent communication among the TIC staff on a range of subjects.

However, areas of success were also found which contributed to operational effectiveness. These included overall quality of staff in terms of skills, attitude, and responsiveness to emergency conditions; inter-organizational cooperation; and quality of some of the data sources.

Findings

TravInfo is a field operational test (FOT) of advanced traveler information systems (ATIS) for the San Francisco Bay Area, sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The project involves a public/private partnership which seeks to compile, integrate, and broadly disseminate timely and accurate multi-modal traveler information through commercial products and services. The public sector component centers on the Traveler Information Center (TIC), which collects and integrates both static and dynamic traveler information. This study focuses on the operator interface element of the TIC.

This study considers the role of the human operator in the flow of information through the TIC, the operators' tasks and responsibilities, and the operators' physical environment. The evaluation was conducted through an analysis of responses to questions during in-person interviews of TIC operators, supervisors, and management.

Previous reports which considered the operator interface of the TIC are:UCB-ITS-PWP-98-7, and UCB-ITS-PWP-98-22