SP approach toward driver comprehension of message formats on VMS

This study attempts to examine driver comprehension of the traffic informat ion that is presented in three formats, namely, the numerical format, the d escription format, and the switch-on-light format. A stated preference surv ey with well designed attributes regarding travel conditions and comprising a total of 475 successful cases for Hong Kong drivers has been conducted f or this purpose. Binary legit models with respect to drivers' traveling pre ference of two designated routes under different traffic conditions were de veloped and found to have considerably high goodness-of-fit statistical val ues. The final models were specified with 11 variables. The explanatory var iables employed in the models include those referring to respondents' socio economic background and those characterizing the transport network. Based o n the findings, it is possible to conclude that drivers have different comp rehension of the formats for presenting traffic information on variable mes sage signs, and the message formats can induce biases toward a route in dri vers' decision-making processes.