A Rapid Engineering Evaluation of Intelligent Transportation System Vehicle-Based Travelers Information Technology and Architecture

Thomas O’Brien and Dwight Fuqua

Abstract:	In response to commercial client requests, a Rapid Engineering Evaluation (REE) of proposed Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) capabilities was conducted in Albuquerque, New Mexico during January-May 1995. Numerous functions of the ITS Travelers Information component were exercised to determine their utility to commercial and private vehicle operators. The evaluation employed off-the-shelf hardware and software, an instrument vehicle, and an operations center. One of the key issues in the successful development and deployment of the ITS is the proper administration of ergonomics/human factors engineering technology; a primary objective of the REE was to examine issues associated with the ITS vehicle-based systems, The design and layout of in-vehicle devices as well as the method .of information presentation to the driver present the greatest human-machine interface (HMI) design challenge in the ITS architecture. HMI design goals include a design that does not cause or contribute to driver distraction from the primary task of safe vehicle operation, yet the information presented should be such that it is easily acquired in times of panic or stress. MAYDAY devices should be designed to avoid generating false alarms that may actually overload emergency organizations and reduce their effectiveness. Examples of the HMI issues to be discussed include: Workload (design to minimize driver multi-task requirements), Information Overload (minimize and optimize the information presented to drivers to avoid information overload and to enhance situation awareness), and Environmental Factors (compatibility of audio and visual alarms and signals for in-vehicle systems under all operational conditions). Also discussed is the performance and utility of ITS vehicle-based system components in three operational environments: Urban, Inter-Urban, and Rural. Downtown Albuquerque was used to provide the “urban canyon”, Interstate 25 between Santa Fe and Albuquerque was the Inter-Urban Route, and both the mountains and desert surrounding Albuquerque were chosen to provide two unique examples of Rural areas. Our testbed vehicle was a Jeep Wrangler equipped with a cellular telephone communications link, a NAVSTAR Global Positioning System receiver and antenna, commercial differential GPS service, and a notebook- class personal computer. Mapping software was employed to provide turn-by-turn driving instructions and route inlormation; communications software was employed to pass digital weather and traffic advisory between the mobile vehicle and operations center.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 51st Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1995) June 5 - 7, 1995 Antlers Doubletree Hotel Colorado Springs, CO
Pages:	139 - 146
Cite this article:	O’Brien, Thomas, Fuqua, Dwight, "A Rapid Engineering Evaluation of Intelligent Transportation System Vehicle-Based Travelers Information Technology and Architecture," Proceedings of the 51st Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1995), Colorado Springs, CO, June 1995, pp. 139-146.
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