SWIFT: SEATTLE WIDE-AREA INFORMATION FOR TRAVELERS, EVALUATION SUMMARY

The SWIFT (Seattle Wide-area Information For Travelers) project was a field operational test of a wide-area Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) communications system using a flexible FM sub-carrier High Speed Data System (HSDS). The test was conducted in a public/private partnership with the Washington State Department of Transportation, King County Metro Transit, Delco Electronics, Etak Inc., IBM, Seiko Communications Systems, Metro Traffic Control and the Federal Highway Administration. Three devices were used, by the public, to receive the traveler information: a Delco car radio (capable of providing vector navigation in addition to personal paging and the SWIFT messages); a Seiko wrist watch pager; and a portable computer (capable of providing graphic displays of traffic advisories and bus positions). After the 15-month test, interviews with the 600 Seattle commuters/participants were conducted to assess user acceptance. A communications study evaluated the adequacy of the HSDS system to disseminate traveler information. An architecture study assessed the effectiveness of the various components to carry out SWIFT operations. An institutional issues study documented the history of the project and assessed the institutional issues confronted. A deployment cost study investigated the cost of deployment of a SWIFT system and assessment of potential profitability. The first five reports in this series detail individual aspects of the project.