MOTORISTS' PERCEPTION AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS EMAS

Abstract

In this new era of innovations and information, the Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) has adopted the 'i-transport' initiative incorporating the use of advanced communications and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). It is hoped that the use of ITS like the Expressway Monitoring & Advisory System (EMAS) will produce quantum leaps in reliability, efficiency and comfort of land transport services. Since the EMAS was introduced to the Central Expressway (CTE) on 28 March 1998, it has given rise to a wide variety of views and criticisms from the public. Yet the local authority (LTA) has claimed success and plans have been made to implement the system island-wide. The intention of this study is to investigate the validity of this claim, taking the viewpoints of private car owners who form the majority of motorists in Singapore. In order to emphasize the effects of rapidly changing communication medium, a technique known as the Stated Preference (SP) method is deployed to confront motorists with hypothetical, but realistic, situations to elicit their choice of communication channel in each scenario. It is hoped that the findings in this dissertation can offer some ideas for conducting a more successful usability test, particularly on traveller information systems and traffic management systems.