A Study On The Effects Of Traffic Information Error On Route Choice Behavior

Advanced Traveler Information Systems help drivers reduce their travel time and delay by providing them with information on their available alternatives. Such systems have proven to be efficient for alleviating traffic congestion in situations where other measures such as demand abatement have shown their limitations. This would explain the increasing attention paid to such systems recently. However, the effectiveness of ATIS depends highly on drivers’ response to the information provided. Thus it is essential to understand drivers’ behavior under the influence of traffic information.Earlier modeling efforts were based on the assumption that the information is perfect and drivers comply with it without any thought about accuracy and reliability. Recent research established the relationship between drivers’ behavior and information accuracy but did not incorporate drivers’ compliance when the information is unreliable.This study proposes a new approach in modeling drivers’ behavior in response to traffic information error. The methodology used here takes into account the different steps of the decision making process by investigating drivers’ compliance with ATIS in case of inaccuracy and the subsequent route choice if they decide to rely on the predictions.Stated Preference method was used to collect data on drivers’ route choice under the influence of ATIS lack of accuracy. The survey design incorporates the factors affecting drivers’ perception of traffic information error.Drivers’ response was illustrated as a multidimensional decision making process with the driver’s compliance with ATIS in case of inaccuracy at the first level. The second level consists of the route choice if the driver complies with the information. Modeling such a process requires the estimation of the correlation between drivers’ compliance with ATIS and the subsequent route choice by the use of a nested structure.