Abstract:Pre-trip information has the potential for influencing a variety of travel choices such as mode, timing, route and amount of travel. The recent advances in the field of information technology have provided an impetus for developing user-friendly and effective information systems to convey pre-trip information. An integral part of the development of pre-trip information systems is the development of user-friendly interfaces which are applicable to a wide range of users and uses. This report describes the ground work done for rapid prototyping experiments with pre-trip information systems.

Included here are a typology of pre-trip information usage, pre-trip information prototype for laboratory experiments and feasibility studies on display formats and interfaces. In addition to this one basic structure of cognitive model that can be used to record subjects' search patterns that aid in designing intelligent user interfaces (user dependent) for the pre-trip information system is explained.

This report partially represents work to be conducted in tasks A through D of the proposal. The tasks are:

• Task A: Determine user needs and functional requirements for pre-trip planning systems.
• Task B: Determine subjects' preferences and attitudes for alternative display formats.
• Task C: User preferences for interfaces
• Task D: Recommendations for desirable system attributes