Travel information as an instrument to change car-drivers' travel choices: a literature review

This paper aims at providing insights that help transport academics and policy makers appreciate the potentials and limitations of information provision as a means to change car-drivers’ travel choices. The focus is on a modal shift from private car to public transport and changes in car-drivers’ choices for departure times and routes towards a more even distribution of traffic within the available road network. These insights are gained through a review of more than 15 years of literature concerning the use and effects of travel information among car-drivers. Based on the performed review, a number of generic, integrative insights is derived, among which the following: it appears that our expectations with respect to the direct effects of information provision on travel choices should be mildly optimistic at best, especially concerning the potential effects on modal split. In the longer run, the effects of information provision, when presented to travelers in suitable formats, are likely to be somewhat stronger than the short term effects