DEVELOPMENT OF INERTACTIVE TRAVELLER INFORMATION SYSTEM

Abstract

Transportation system across the world has many issues. Among these issues, traffic congestion and crowded public transport is a common sight in India, especially in its urban areas. However, the Indian government has already started working on resolving these issues by expanding the capacity of available road infrastructure by mainly widening existing roads, constructing new roads, and investing in new public transportation infrastructure. But these steps of widening of existing roads, construction of new roads, and public transportation infrastructure have significant and long-lasting impacts on the environment, including deforestation, air pollution, noise pollution, global warming, disruption of ecosystems, soil erosion, etc. The present thesis proposes a smart solution to resolve the above-mentioned issues by improving the efficiency of usage of available infrastructure by providing real-time information and updates through the use of advanced information and communications technology available. This thesis presents the evaluation of the existing traveler information system and the development of an innovative Interactive Traveler Information System (ITIS), which assists in mitigating the traffic congestion problem and alleviating the problem of crowded public transport by improving the usage efficiency of the available transportation infrastructure. This thesis evaluates the existing traveler information system in the form of Variable Message Signs (VMS) and Navigational Applications by conducting a questionnaire survey. Survey results showed that VMS and navigational apps have Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) scores of 65.97 % and 89.42%, respectively. In addition to measuring the overall satisfaction of the users, this thesis also investigated the heterogeneity in user satisfaction toward satisfaction with the use of the existing traveler information system by using the Kruskal Walis H test. The results of the heterogeneity analysis showed that there was a significant difference in the satisfaction of rating of VMS based on age, education level, occupation, income, travel schedule flexibility, and driving style, while in the case of navigational apps, a significant difference in the satisfaction of rating was observed based on the occupation and km driven. The survey was also utilized to identify the problems perceived and suggestions to improve the existing traveler information system. The results showed that the information redundancy and readability of the messages are the major problems in VMS, while navigation apps have issues with low-quality routes. The respondents suggested to show only essential driving information on the VMS and to enhance the quality of the route suggested by navigational apps by avoiding village roads and incorporating advanced warning features in the navigational apps.