Modeling Driver Perceptions of Travel Conditions in an In-Situ Route Choice Experiment in Real-World Conditions

Human perceptions play a significant role in traveler decisions, and therefore are a corner stone in the feasibility of traveler information systems. Traveler information systems are only valuable if: a) drivers are incapable of accurately acquiring the provided information on their own, and b) the provided information is relevant for the drivers’ decision criteria. Accuracy of traveler perceptions has been repeatedly researched in public transportation, and has been found to vary according to different reasons. However, in spite of the clear significance of traveler perceptions, minimal effort has been put into modeling it. Almost all travel behavior models are based on traveler experiences, which are assumed to reflect traveler perceptions via the addition of some random error component. This work introduces an alternative approach: instead of adding an error component to represent driver perceptions, it proposes to model driver perceptions. This work is based on a real-world route choice experiment of a sample of 20 drivers who collectively made more than 2,000 real-world route choices. Each of the drivers’ experiences, perceptions, and choices were recorded, analyzed and cross examined. The paper demonstrates that: i) driver perceptions are different from driver experiences, ii) driver perceptions explain driver choices better than driver experiences, iii) it is possible to model and predict driver perceptions of travel distance, time and speed, and iv) in addition to signal strength, driver perceptions are also influenced by personal characteristics and personality traits.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AND20 User Information Systems. Alternate abstract: Modeling Driver Perceptions of Travel Conditions in In Situ Route Choice Experiment in Real-World Conditions.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Tawfik, Aly M
  • Rakha, Hesham A
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 93rd Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC
  • Date: 2014-1-12 to 2014-1-16
• Date: 2014

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 16p
• Monograph Title: TRB 93rd Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Advanced traveler information systems; Automobile travel; Decision making; Drivers; Perception; Route choice; Travel behavior
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01518661
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 14-5060
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 20 2014 1:39PM