ROUTE CHOICE UNDER TWO AUSTRALIAN TRAVEL INFORMATION SYSTEMS

This report comprises an investigation of the route choice behaviour of drivers due to the presentation of real-time travel information. A review of existing systems in operation around the world was conducted, and it was concluded that travel information is welcomed by the public, and drivers with different trip purposes and from different socio-demographic groups may respond differently to driver information systems. Traffic behaviour was then examined in detail for two of the largest travel information display systems in Australia. Traffic volume and sign status data were collected in two separate experiments on Melbourne's 'Drive Time' system and Brisbane's Variable Message Signs (VMS) network. Data analysis showed that both systems were useful in encouraging traffic to exit from the respective freeways onto alternative routes, particularly in response to upstream accidents or freeway closures. They could not solely be relied upon to effect a full freeway closure, but do reduce delays associated with incidents and closures. (a)