The paper describes the development and use of an innovative survey methodology which seeks to determine how drivers would respond to in-car route guidance. An understanding of drivers' response to route guidance is fundamental to any assessment of the impact of route guidance systems on the performance of the transport system. The simplistic assumption that drivers will accept and follow all advice is known to be unrealistic. Unfortunately, despite the existence of the pilot scheme in Berlin, there is very little field data on driver response to guidance. As part of a DRIVE (Dedicated Road Infrastructure for Vehicle Safety in Europe) project on the integration of route guidance and traffic control a PC based simulation game has been developed which permits very efficient collection of data on drivers' responses to route guidance in various hypothetical situations. In the context of a series of hypothetical journeys 'drivers' are presented with route choice decisions. The computer summarizes the characteristics of each option available to them and indicates which option is recommended by the guidance system. Careful experimental design enables circumstances to be identified in which advice will be accepted or rejected and how experience with previous advice affects the drivers' attitude to current advice. The paper describes the development of the simulation game and discusses other possible applications of it.
Abstract