Traveler responses to real-time transit passenger information systems

In recent years, a considerable amount of money has been spent on Real-time Transit Passenger Information Systems (RTPISs), which provide timely and accurate transit information to current and potential riders to enable them to make better pretrip and en-route decisions. Understanding traveler responses to real-time transit information is critical for designing such services and evaluating their effectiveness. To answer this question, an effort is made in this dissertation to systematically conceptualize a variety of behavioral and psychological responses travelers may undertake to real-time transit information and empirically examine the causal effects of real-time information on traveler behavior and psychology.;This research takes ShuttleTrac, a newly implemented real-time bus arrival information system for UMD's Shuttle-UM service, as a case for empirical study. In Part 1 analysis, using panel datasets derived from three-waved online campus transportation surveys, fixed-effects OLS models and random-effects ordered probit models are estimated to sort out causal relations between ShuttleTrac information use and general/cumulative behavioral and psychological outcomes. In addition, a twostage instrumental variable model was estimated to examine the potential change in habitual mode choices due to real-time transit information use. The results show that with a few months of adjustment, travelers may increase their trip-making frequency as a result of real-time transit information use, and positive psychological outcomes are more prominent in both short and longer terms.;In Part 2 analyses, using the cross-sectional dataset derived from the onboard survey, OLS models and ordered logit models were estimated to examine the tripspecific psychological effects of real-time transit information. The results show that these trip-specific psychological effects of real-time transit information do exist in expected directions and they vary among user groups and in different scenarios. A finding consistent across two parts of analyses is that accuracy of information plays a greater role in determining traveler behavior and psychology than the mere presence.;This research contributes to the general discussion on traveler behavior under advanced information by (1) developing an integrative conceptual framework; and (2) providing useful insights into the issue with much empirical evidences obtained with revealed-preference data and sophisticated modeling techniques.