Foreword

This report presents the findings of the study team that participated in an International Technology Scanning Program tour to the countries of Spain, Germany, Sweden, Scotland, and England. The scanning program is a joint effort of the Office of International Programs of the Federal Highway Administration and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, in collaboration with the Transportation Research Board's National Cooperative Highway Research Program.

This tour was expressly for the purpose of learning about multimode traveler information systems and the business practices surrounding them. The timing of the tour also allowed the study team to examine European practices that could be applied in implementing "511" telephone traveler information services--the three-digit telephone number designated for traveler information in the United States.

An important goal for the study team was to learn about and identify policies, programs, technologies, and techniques that may have applications to U.S. experiences in traveler information services. While there were many opportunities to see various technologies and methods in place and operating, the scanning tour also offered insights toward various implementation methods with differing roles and responsibilities for public agencies and private firms. The scanning tour was also a wonderful opportunity for policy, programmatic, and implementation discussions to take place on a peer-to-peer basis. The study team represented highway and public transport interests from a cross-section of public agencies and private firms, all actively involved in the development and deployment of traveler information systems.

The relationships formed and the information exchanged among the host agencies and the study team members will be important legacies of the scanning tour.

The report presents the scanning tour's objectives and a description of the locations that were visited, followed by the study team's findings organized around seven focus areas. The report concludes with recommendations and an implementation strategy for applying some of the information gathered from the host locations. Throughout, the report contains pictures and excerpts from presentations to try to convey the different strategies and approaches used by the host locations to convey traveler information. Finally, the report is intended to facilitate further cooperation between the United States and the countries visited regarding traveler information services.

All the countries and locations that hosted the study team recognized that providing traveler information was an integral part of sound transportation management. The host locations are facing many of the same challenges that members of the study team address in implementing and operating traveler information systems. The business of providing traveler information to improve transportation network efficiency, and the various roles of public agencies and private firms, are areas that offer great opportunities for continued cooperation and information exchange between the United States and the host locations.

Traveler Information Systems Scanning Tour Chairmen, Jim Wright, Minnesota DOT Bob Rupert, FHWA

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The panel members wish to thank all of the host transportation ministries, agencies, researchers, and private firms for their gracious hospitality and for sharing their time and experiences. Without exception, the team was warmly received in every country and by every official.

The panel is also appreciative of the amount of professional preparation, effort, and attention to detail provided by these agencies and their staffs. Much was learned from each country. Furthermore, doors to future cooperation and technology transfer were opened widely.

We also thank the Federal Highway Administration, Office of International Programs, and AASHTO for encouragement, guidance, and support, as well as ATI for assistance and guidance.

Finally, our gratitude goes to R. Leon Walden, Melanie Crotty, Tim Wolfe, Sandra Check, David Lively, and James Pol for their time and assistance in planning the scanning tour.