Houston Smart Commuter ITS Operational Test - FY 99 Status Report (7-1985-5)

This report documents the Houston Smart Commuter ITS Operational Test. The project examined the influence of providing real-time traffic and current bus information to commuters in the I-45 North Freeway corridor. The project was one of the federally sponsored ITS Operational Tests. It was jointly funded by the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO), the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Planning for the project was initiated in 1990, and the actual test of the hand-held information devices occurred over a two-year period from the fall of 1997 to late 1998. This report summarizes the development of the Smart Commuter project in the I-45 North Freeway corridor, the technology used to provide real-time traffic and current transit information to selected commuters, and the results of the surveys and travel diaries of test participants and individuals in the control group.