David W. Eby

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Developing Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) for the Driving Tourist

Project Director: David W. Eby
Principal Investigator: Lisa Molnar
Sponsor: University of Michigan ITS Research Center of Excellence

The purpose of the project is to:

Why study the driving tourist?

• Tourism is the second largest retail/service industry in the U.S. In 1992, $360 billion were spend by foreign and domestic tourists in the U.S. This equates to $41 milklion an hour or roughly 6% of the U.S. GNP.
• While the tourism industry is hugh, it is growing rapidly. Current projections suggest that the number of international tourists visiting the U.S. will increase by 70% between the years 1992 and 2000.
• Tourist compose a distinct subclass of driver. Tourists frequently travel in unfamiliar areas and are motivated to travel in order to pursue pleasure, health, or education.
• Title I of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) recognizes the importance of the driving tourist by setting aside grant funds ($50 million) for the planning, design, and development of State "scenic byway" systems.

Project Activities

Because the topic of this project covers diverse areas of research, the project commenced with an extensive literature review of areas related to the driving tourist.

Molnar, L.J., Eby, D.W., & Hopp, M.L. (1996) Developing Information Systems for the Driving Tourist: A Literature Review. (Report No. UMTRI-96-11). Ann Arbor. MI: University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

Nationwide Survey

The survey was colorful, mail-back form in which respondents marked their answers by filling in scanable circles directly on the form. A total of 15,000 names were randomly selected from a national consumer database of approximately 94 million names of people living in all 50 United States. The survey, a self-addressed envelope for survey return, and a small pencil were mailed to each sampled person. No follow-up procedures were conducted. A total of 1,380 useable surveys were returned, with respondents residing in all 50 states.

All usable surveys were coded electronically using a computerized optical scanning device. Prior to scanning, all survey forms were carefully reviewed. Stray marks were eliminated and answers marked in pen were redone in pencil so that they could be detected by the scanner. Once scanned, the raw data files were cleaned and open-ended responses were keyed in and added to the data file. The SAS system of data analysis software was used for data file management and analyses because of its extensive data transformation and documentation capabilities, and the capability for weighting survey respondents.

In order to make our results representative of the US population, survey data were weighted by the 1995 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey (NPTS) data, based on sex, age, and household income of survey respondents. The NPTS, conducted under the sponsorship of the Federal Highway Administration, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the Federal Transit Administration, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, serves as the only authoritative source of national data on daily personal travel (Research Triangle Institute, 1997).

We weighted our sample to the NPTS subsample of adults who reported taking a "long trip" in the 1995 survey. We used long trips (defined as trips where the farthest point was at least 75 miles from home) as a proxy for tourist travel. We expanded our sample to the NPTS long trip population rather than the total population because we were interested in the people who travel as tourists; it is their information needs and preferences which will best inform the development of tourist technology, a major focus of the overall research project. By weighting our sample to the NPTS (already weighted to expand its sample data to estimates for the US population), we attempted to make our estimates representative of US adults who travel as tourists.

Recommendations

Based upon findings from the literature review and survey, we developed a set of guidelines for the design of ATIS for the driving tourist. The final report for the project can be found here:

Eby, D.W. & Molnar, L.J. (1999). Guidelines for Developing Information Systems for the Driving Tourist. Report No. ITS-RCE-939430. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Intelligent Transportation System Research Center of Excellence.

This report is too large to place on-line but a summary can be seen here: Summary RCE-939430.

Publications based on the project

Our comprehensive dataset has allowed us to answer many question related to driving for tourist purposes. The following are some of these articles:

Eby, D.W. & Molnar, L.J. (under review). Age-Related Decision Factors in Destination Choice for United States Tourists Taking Overnight Automobile Trips.

Eby, D.W. & Molnar, L.J. (under review). In-vehicle route guidance preferences of driving tourists. ITS Journal.

Eby, D.W. & Molnar, L.J. (in press). Importance of scenic byways in route choice: A survey of driving tourists in the United States. Transportation Research Part A: Planning and Policy.

Eby, D.W. & Molnar, L.J. (2000). Feature preferences for advanced traveler information systems by United States tourists. In Proceedings ISATA 2000, Automotive & Transportation Technology: Intelligent Transportation Systems-In-Car Navigation, Intelligent Highways and Highway Safety. (pp 93-100). Croyden, England: ISATA Düsseldorf Trade Fair.

Eby, D.W., Molnar, L.J., & Cai, L. A. (1999). Content preferences for in-vehicle tourist information systems: An emerging tourist information source. Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, 6, 41-58.

Molnar, L.J. & Eby, D.W. (1999). Preferences for in-vehicle guided tours for the driving tourist. In D. Roller (Ed.) Advances in Automotive and Transportation Technology and Practice for the 21^st Century: Surface Transportation Advances and Intelligent Transportation Systems. (pp. 429-436). Croyden, England: ISATA Düsseldorf Trade Fair.

Eby, D.W. & Molnar, L.J. (1998). Preliminary guidelines for development of advanced traveler information systems for the driving tourist: Information content. In D. Roller (Ed.), Special Innovative Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems and Telemetrics Proceedings. (pp. 359-366). Croydon, UK: ISATA.

Eby, D.W. & Molnar, L.J. (1998). Content preferences for in-vehicle tourist information systems: Sex and education differences. Proceedings of the 6^th Annual Tourism Association of New Mexico Research and Marketing Conference. (pp. 1-15). Albuquerque, NM: TANM.

Molnar, L.J. & Eby, D.W. (1997). Preliminary guidelines for development of advanced traveler information systems for the driving tourist: Route guidance features. In D. Roller (Ed.) Dedicated Conference on ATT/ITS Advances for Enhancing Passenger, Freight & Intermodal Transportation Systems. (pp. 279-286). Croyden, UK: Automotive Automation Limited.