A comprehensive questionnaire dealing with various aspects of highway navigation was developed, pretested, and administered to a demographically representative sample of the US driving population. Thesample was drawn from a group of paid subjects engaged in highway navigation experiments. The analysis of 125 completed and usable questionnaires is presented. In addition to background information on demographics and on driving experience, topics addressed included route selection, behavior under directional uncertainty, distance-time-costs trade-offs, and attitudes toward proposed remedial measures. The data obtained indicate that drivers are, generally, fairly well satisfied with their ability to perform route-planning or route-following tasks effectively and believe that the major constraints on their effectiveness arise from the unavailability of adequate and accurate route and trffic information. This satisfaction is, however, notsupported by data on the extent of excess travel due to navigational waste. Furthermore, answers to a number of questions indicated an insufficient appreciation of the complexities of determining optimumroutes and of the extent and seriousness of the problem of navigational waste.(A).
Abstract