Framework for assessing benefits of highway traveler information services

The problem of estimating traveler benefits from an information system that is capable of forecasting traffic conditions on the roads of a network with a variable degree of accuracy is considered. Unlike the cases that have already appeared in the literature, in which furnishing actual times eliminates all uncertainty out of drivers' behavior, here the uncertainty about the occurrence of a particular traffic condition may simply be reduced instead of being completely eliminated. The primary purpose is to propose a methodological framework that can evaluate the benefits from the introduction of information services in highway networks. Given certain behavioral aspects of the traveler decision-making process, the focus is on quantifying what travelers gain by having perfect or partial information about highway traffic conditions. The secondary purpose is to use the proposed methodology to determine the optimal number of travelers to whom information on travel conditions should be provided.