No abstract

SmarTraveler was implemented as an operational test of an advanced traveler information system in the Boston metropolitan area. Users call the service from cellular or conventional telephones to receive realtime, route-specific traffic and transit information free of charge (except for any telephone company charges). Several evaluations were conducted since the service began in January 1993, to assess public acceptance of the information provided by SmarTraveler. Findings on user perceptions of and response to the program during its second year of operation, from April through December 1994, are summarized. Calling frequency increased during this period. Calls from cellular telephones made up 61 percent of the total calls received, even though cellular telephone callers were in the minority of the user population. Users were found to be quite satisfied with the service, especially in comparison with broadcast media traffic reports. In particular, they found SmarTraveler easy to use and were pleased with its availability on demand, its up-to-the-minute information, and its coverage of major routes. Two-thirds of current users said that SmarTraveler helped reduce anxiety. Although virtually all users said they would continue calling SmarTraveler in the future, users indicated substantial sensitivity to the potential imposition of a service fee.

This paper presents the results of a baseline survey undertaken for the Norfolk Island Carbon Health Evaluation (NICHE) project and analyzes the relationships among key variables hypothesized as affecting respondents' intentions to use a personal carbon trading (PCT) system. The survey was delivered to all households on Norfolk Island and gathered information on respondent's attitudes towards climate change, PCT and health, as well as demographic and household information. The intention of the study was to investigate the relationship between health and climate change and whether attitudes can be influenced by an understanding of one's carbon footprint prior to the roll out of a PCT trial.

In 1993 the SmarTraveler advanced traveler information system (ATIS) was introduced to travelers in the greater Boston area as part of an operational test jointly funded by FHWA and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation and Construction. The service offers real-time, route-specific travel information by phone for major highways and public transit. During the 3-year test period from January 1993 to January 1996, service usage grew to nearly 60,000 calls per week, made by an average of more than 20,000 users. To achieve this growth, SmarTraveler was marketed to both cellular and land-line phone users using a variety of strategies over the course of the test. Evaluation and monitoring studies were commissioned to examine the degree to which users responded to SmarTraveler and the marketing program. The evaluation included extensive surveys of users and nonusers as well as tracking of calls and call frequency. The findings of the independent evaluation team on the success of various promotional efforts associated with the SmarTraveler operational test are presented. Overall, the marketing program aimed at the broad target market during the first 2 years appears to have been only partly successful in increasing the public's level of awareness of SmarTraveler, in convincing its target market of SmarTraveler's superiority to radio and TV travel reports, and in inducing trials. As a result of the second-year evaluation, changes were made to marketing and pricing during the third year of operation to target cellular telephone users. Further surveys were conducted to examine cellular telephone user response to these changes. SmarTraveler experienced a large increase in calls and users in the third year, especially in the cellular telephone market. Among the survey findings was that this market is quite price sensitive.