Determinants of Route Choice and Value of Traveler Information

Abstract

Drivers receive value from traveler information in several ways, including the ability to save time, but perhaps more important is the value of certainty as it affects other personal, social, safety, or psychological factors. This information can be economically valued. The benefit of reduction in driver uncertainty when information is provided at the beginning of the trip is the main variable measured in this research. User preferences for routes were assessed as a function of the presence and accuracy of information while controlling for other trip and route attributes. Data were collected in a field experiment in which 113 drivers, given real-time travel time information with varying degrees of accuracy, drove four alternative routes between a preselected origin-destination pair in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, metropolitan area. Ordinary regression, multinomial, and rank-ordered logit models produced estimates of the value of information with some variation. Results showed that travelers were willing to pay up to $1 per trip for pretrip travel-time information. The value of information is higher for commute and event trips and when congestion on the usual route is heavier. The accuracy of the traveler information was also a crucial factor. Travelers will not pay for information unless they perceive it to be accurate. Most travelers (70%) prefer that such information be provided free by the public sector, whereas some (19%) believe that it is better for the private sector to provide such service at a charge.