Using stated preference data for studying the effect of advanced traffic information on drivers' route choice

This paper presents a statistical analysis of commuters' route choice including the effect of traffic information. The paper utilizes data collected from two stated preference survey techniques. Two route choice models were estimated. The first model used five hypothetical binary choice sets collected in a computer-aided telephone interview. The objective of the model was to determine how travel time variation affects route choice, and the potential interplay among travel time variation, traffic information acquisition and route choice. The second model used data collected in a mail survey from three binary route choice stated preference scenarios customized according to each respondent's actual commute route and travel time. The objective of the model was to investigate the potential effect of advanced traveler information systems on route choice. The correlation among error components in repeated measurement data was addressed in this paper with individual-specific random error components in a binary legit model with normal mixing distribution. The results underscored the significance of traffic information and the potential effect of advanced traveler information systems (ATIS) on route choice. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.