MOTORIST BEHAVIOR AND THE DESIGN OF MOTORIST INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Results are described of an in-person survey of Seattle commuters on the topic of motorist behavior and decision making. Three broad areas were of interest: (a) behavior and decisions of commuters relative to their choice of route before departure; (b) behavior and decisions of commuters while driving; and (c) responses of commuters to manipulations of variable-message sign messages. Results indicated that all commuter groups were familiar with alternative routes, but rarely used them during actual commutes. In addition, commuters who did use alternate routes reported higher levels of stress during their commutes in comparison with traveling primary routes. Changes in primary routes were generally in response to congestion actually observed by commuters rather than to information provided by existing traffic information sources. Further, commuters rarely changed mode of transportation or time of departure on the basis of currently available information received at home before departure. These findings point to specific issues that need to be addressed in the design of future motorist information systems.

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