In many parts of the world today, drivers have access to a growing range of traveller information services, from traffic reports on the radio and variable message signs along roads to customised information that could be delivered to personal mobile phones and PDAs (personal digital assistants) as well as to the global navigation units appearing in many vehicles. The key commercial question is, what information does the driver want? So far, while traveller information services deliver increasingly sophisticated incident reports, journey times and other such information, driver response has remained lukewarm. This thesis suggests that the problem lies in understanding the driver rather than improving the content. Therefore, it has sought to establish: Q1. What do drivers already know?; Q2. How did they learn it?; Q3. What do drivers need now and in the future as they continue to learn? And for traveller information service providers, the related question: Q4. How can information providers accommodate drivers' learning? This thesis reports a qualitative case study based on ten in-depth interviews with drivers who had previously participated in a six week trial receiving customised traveller information about their commutes to and from work, through their mobile phones. The thesis reports that drivers principally learn from their experiences in processes well established in the adult learning literature. It has found that commuter drivers can be regarded as experts on their commutes, but that the domain of any drivers' expertise is limited both spatially and temporally. When presented with dynamic, customised traveller information, it was found that commuter drivers enter a learning curve affected by previous experience and immediate need in which learning to access and utilise appropriate travel information is a dynamic process. Drivers learn about using traveller information, they learn about the types of traveller information available and they also learn whether to trust the information provider. As adults who learn and think, drivers see the role of an information service provider as facilitating their own understanding of the phenomena of traffic they face everyday and, in turn, supporting their learning to make better informed decisions. The thesis concludes that customised traveller information will become effective when it meets the current understanding and needs of the driver as an active learner whose information requirements change over time and from time to time. This thesis contributes to an increased understanding of drivers, their knowledge and how they learn. As a result, it offers traveller information providers with a substantially increased understanding of how to meet their drivers' needs.

Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The importance of transport should not be underestimated. Transport progresses a person’s quality of life: it connects people to one another and provides access to work, services and recreational opportunities. However, post-apartheid South Africa is unfortunately still faced with a legacy of segregation. While the less-privileged, who mostly live at the fringe of Central Business Districts (CBDs), are captive users of public transport, the private vehicle trend, under the privileged, is becoming more evident. This research project thus proposes that a balanced and integrated sustainable transport system be promoted. That is, one that will aid South Africa in growing and improving its general socio-economical status by providing all its citizens with (equal) access to a balanced transport network. It is believed that, if a multimodal system is promoted, the deficiencies of the current heterogeneous non-integrated systems may be overcome. Therefore, if South Africa’s transport network is augmented with a multimodal platform, the nation will be able to move its citizens effectively and efficiently, without jeopardising the economy, social matters and the environment, today and in the future. Moreover, South Africa will also have the necessary stimulus to utilise the already available resources at its disposal by working together as ‘one’. This research project thus stipulates a (generic) sequential approach needed in achieving an integrated (sustainable) public transport system. The goal of this research project is to create awareness of the benefits that may arise from, and the implementation steps required in obtaining, such a multimodal platform. The focus area for researching the proposition made herein is the City of Cape Town’s (CoCT’s) land transport networks. The City has a management facility, with resultant transport data repository, known as the Transport Management Centre (TMC). This TMC is regarded as one of the finest state of the art facilities in the world and the features thereof offer a sufficient base and point of departure for the promotion of a multimodal transport system. By conducting research in this field, the following portraying aspects, needed for the realisation of the proposition made herein, were found. Firstly, in order to obtain an integrated sustainable transport system, the appropriate Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) need to be integrated. It is believed that, if an intelligent transport scheme, grounded on ITS applications, is advocated, the City will be in the position to more effectively monitor what is going on, to more accurately predict what might happen in the future, and to manage its transport system proactively on an area-wide basis. Secondly, in order to meet the integration requirements imposed by multimodal transport, a centralised database needs to be created. With such a database in place, information sharing across all modes of private- and public land transport, and thus also between the investors or the operators, will be possible. An example of such a database was developed in Microsoft Access and the modes considered therein are: MyCiti, Metrorail and Golden Arrow Bus Service (GABS). The data stored in this database is historic, but the incorporation of real time information was also catered for. Thirdly, it is believed that the success of the City’s transport system, and the development of a multimodal system, is dependent on the provision of an efficient Advanced Traveller Information System (ATIS). The idea is to promote multimodal transport as a convenient transit option by providing travellers with information on journey planning that aims to counteract their reluctance to change. In order to develop such a multimodal Journey Planner (JP), the unimodal networks considered herein were combined into a supernetwork on which Dijkstra’s Shortest Path Algorithm was applied. This algorithm was programmed in Microsoft Excel’s Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and it incorporates the following user criteria: the origin, the destination, the user’s mode preference, and the user’s optimisation preference of either time or distance. In conclusion, it can be argued that, with information becoming such a vital commodity in everyday life, the catering for informed travellers are the key to successful future transport services. If travellers are informed about the transport networks’ performance, a positive attitude is fostered. Moreover, by providing travellers with information on journey planning, their feelings of uncertainty and fear of the unknown, that are present in (especially) public transport services, may be neutralised. This information will give the public carte blanche to make decisions that give them the perception of having more ‘control over their lives’. Therefore, if a multimodal JP that can be accessed from one portal is created, people’s inclination to acquire more information will be met. And as a result, traversing in an integrated manner may become the norm. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die belangrikheid van vervoer mag nie onderskat word nie. Vervoer speel ’n belangrike rol in die bevordering van ’n persoon se lewenskwaliteit: dit verbind mense met mekaar en verskaf toegang tot die werksplek, diensteverskaffers, en vryetydsbesteding. Post-apartheid Suid-Afrika is egter nog steeds vasgevang in ’n nalatenskap van rasseskeiding. Die minderbevoorregtes, wat meestal aan die buitewyke van die stad woon, is geforseerde gebruikers van openbare vervoer, terwyl die neiging (onder die bevoorregtes) om privaatvoertuie te gebruik, aan die toeneem is. Hierdie navorsingsprojek beveel dus aan dat ’n gebalanseerde, geïntegreerde en volhoubare vervoerstelsel bevorder moet word. ’n Sodanige stelsel sal help om die sosio-ekonomiese status van Suid-Afrika te bevorder. Dít kan net bereik word as alle landsburgers gelyke toegang tot ’n gebalanseeerde vervoernetwerk het. As ’n multimode-stelsel dus bevorder word, kan die tekortkominge van die huidige heterogene, nie-geïntegreerde stelsels oorkom word. Indien Suid-Afrika se vervoernetwerk ’n multimodale platform het, kan die landsburgers effektief en doeltreffend vervoer word sonder om die ekonomie, sosiale aangeleenthede of omgewing, tans en in die toekoms, in gedrang in te bring. Suid-Afrika sal boonop, met so ’n platform in plek, ook die nodige stimulus hê om die bestaande hulpbronne optimaal te gebruik. Hierdie navorsingsprojek verskaf ’n (generiese) in-volgorde-benadering om ’n volhoubare, geïntegreerde openbare vervoerstelsel daar te stel. Die doel is om bewustheid van die voordele wat uit ’n multimodale platform spruit, sowel as die nodige stappe vir die uitvoering daarvan, te kweek. Die fokusarea van die navorsing is die Stad van Kaapstad se land-vervoernetwerke. Die Stad het ’n beheerfasiliteit waar vervoerdata versamel word. Dit staan bekend as die vervoer-beheersentrum (TMC: Transport Management Centre). Hierdie fasiliteit word as toonaangewend in die wêreld beskou. Die kenmerkende eienskappe van hierdie fasiliteit bied verder ook ’n goeie vertrekpunt vir die bevordering van ’n multimodale stelsel. Die navorsing in hierdie veld het die volgende bydraende faktore, wat benodig word om die voorstelling te realiseer, geïdentifiseer. In die eerste plek moet die intelligente vervoerstelsels (ITS: Intelligent Transport Systems) geïntegreer word om ’n geïntegreerde volhoubare vervoerstelsel daar te stel. Indien ’n intelligente vervoerskema, gebaseer op tegnologiese inisiatiewe, aangemoedig word, sal die Stad van Kaapstad in die posisie wees om sy vervoerstelsel pro-aktief te bestuur deur meer effektief te monitor wat aangaan en meer akkuraat te voorspel wat in die toekoms mag gebeur. Tweedens moet daar ’n gesentraliseerde databasis geskep word. Met hierdie databasis sal die nodige integrasievereistes vir ’n multimodale vervoerstelsel, bereik word. Inligting kan dan gedeel word tussen privaat- en openbare landvervoer, asook tussen die beleggers en die operateurs van die verskillende vervoermodusse. ’n Voorbeeld van so ’n databasis is in Microsoft Access geskep en die modusse wat deel daarvan uitmaak, is: MyCiti, Metrorail en Golden Arrow Bus Services (GABS). Die data wat hierin vervat is, is histories, maar daar is vir intydse inligting voorsiening gemaak. In die derde plek is die sukses van die Stad van Kaapstad se vervoerstelsel en die ontwikkeling van ’n multimodale stelsel afhanklik van die daarstelling van ’n effektiewe, gevorderde inligtingsstelsel vir pendelaars (ATIS: Advanced Traveller Information Systems). Die idee is om ’n multimodale vervoerstelsel as ’n gerieflike opsie onder pendelaars te bevorder. Dit kan bereik word deur inligting rakende reisbeplanning aan pendelaars daar te stel. Met die verkryging van sodanige kennis sal die pendelaar se weerstand teen verandering ook afneem. Om so ’n multimodale reisbeplanner (JP: Journey Planner) te ontwikkel, is die eenmodaal-netwerke gekombineer om ’n supernetwerk te skep. Dijkstra se algoritme is op die supernetwerk toegepas. Die algoritme is in Microsoft Excel se VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) geprogrammeer en dit bevat die volgende gebruikerskriteria, nl. die begin- en eindpunt, die gebruiker se modes-voorkeur en die gebruiker se gekose optimeringsvoorkeur van tyd of afstand. Ten slotte kan gesê word dat inligting ’n groot rol in die mens se daaglikse lewe en aktiwiteite speel. Daar kan dus geredeneer word dat die sleutel tot suksesvolle vervoerdienste daarin lê om vir ingeligte pendelaars voorsiening te maak. As pendelaars ingelig is oor die stand van die vervoernetwerk maak dit hul houding meer positief. Verder, as pendelaars ook inligting oor reisbeplanning het, kan dit hul gevoel van onsekerheid en vrees jeens (veral) openbare vervoer teenwerk. Met al hierdie inligting tot sy beskikking kan ’n persoon dus sy eie keuses maak en dit lei daartoe dat die persoon meer in beheer voel. As ’n multimodale JP geskep word, voed dit die mens se begeerte vir meer inligting. En met ’n sodanige JP in plek, kan geïntegreerde pendel moontlik die norm word.

Changeable Message Signs (CMS) are commonly utilized by transportation agencies to inform motorists of traffic, roadway, and environmental conditions. They may be used to provide information, such as delay and alternate route guidance, in the event of an incident, construction or a roadway closure. The effectiveness of CMS in managing freeway traffic, however, is a function of many factors including the number of CMS installations, the location of CMS, the messages displayed, varied traffic network characteristics, and drivers' response to incident conditions and CMS information. The objective of this thesis is to develop a CMS location planning model that can be used by transportation agencies to develop a CMS location plan that could achieve the largest long-term benefit to the system. This research is mainly motivated by the lack of systematic, robust and practical methods for locating CMS. State-of-practice methods rely mostly on the practitioner's experience and judgement. Other methods fail to incorporate reasonable driver behaviour models, consider time-varying demand, allow for computational efficiency on large networks, or consider the spatial variation of incidents on a traffic network. A new CMS location optimization model has been developed that is unique in both model realism and computational efficiency. The model incorporates several components to estimate incident delay, predict driver response, estimate network-wide benefit, and choose those CMS locations that would provide the most benefit. Deterministic queuing methods are used in conjunction with historic incident characteristics to approximate the delay impact of an incident with and without CMS. A discrete choice model is used to predict the rate at which drivers would switch from the incident route to a less congested alternative under CMS information. A network traffic assignment model is then incorporated in an attempt to estimate the resulting traffic induced by incidents. Genetic algorithms are utilized as an optimization technique to choose a set of CMS that would provide the most benefit. An extensive computational analysis was performed on both a hypothetical network and a segment of Highway 401 through Toronto. A sensitivity analysis was performed to test the model's response to parameter and data estimation errors. The model was found to be most sensitive to the diversion model parameters. The model produced reasonable results with locations selected upstream of major freeway interchange diversion points. Considering the additional components included in the proposed model, and its ability to consider more location schemes, the proposed model may be considered superior to previous CMS location models.

Changeable Message Signs (CMS) are commonly utilized by transportation agencies to inform motorists of traffic, roadway, and environmental conditions. They may be used to provide information, such as delay and alternate route guidance, in the event of an incident, construction or a roadway closure. The effectiveness of CMS in managing freeway traffic, however, is a function of many factors including the number of CMS installations, the location of CMS, the messages displayed, varied traffic network characteristics, and drivers' response to incident conditions and CMS information. The objective of this thesis is to develop a CMS location planning model that can be used by transportation agencies to develop a CMS location plan that could achieve the largest long-term benefit to the system. This research is mainly motivated by the lack of systematic, robust and practical methods for locating CMS. State-of-practice methods rely mostly on the practitioner's experience and judgement. Other methods fail to incorporate reasonable driver behaviour models, consider time-varying demand, allow for computational efficiency on large networks, or consider the spatial variation of incidents on a traffic network. A new CMS location optimization model has been developed that is unique in both model realism and computational efficiency. The model incorporates several components to estimate incident delay, predict driver response, estimate network-wide benefit, and choose those CMS locations that would provide the most benefit. Deterministic queuing methods are used in conjunction with historic incident characteristics to approximate the delay impact of an incident with and without CMS. A discrete choice model is used to predict the rate at which drivers would switch from the incident route to a less congested alternative under CMS information. A network traffic assignment model is then incorporated in an attempt to estimate the resulting traffic induced by incidents. Genetic algorithms are utilized as an optimization technique to choose a set of CMS that would provide the most benefit. An extensive computational analysis was performed on both a hypothetical network and a segment of Highway 401 through Toronto. A sensitivity analysis was performed to test the model's response to parameter and data estimation errors. The model was found to be most sensitive to the diversion model parameters. The model produced reasonable results with locations selected upstream of major freeway interchange diversion points. Considering the additional components included in the proposed model, and its ability to consider more location schemes, the proposed model may be considered superior to previous CMS location models.