Maine, United States
An Evaluation of Acadia National Park ITS Field Operational Test: Final Report
Summary Information
OBJECTIVES AND PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The following objectives and ITS applications were detailed in the report:
Disseminate accurate and timely information to visitors regarding on-site parking, bus arrival and departure times, and on-board transit status information.
- Real-time bus departure electronic message signs were installed at the Visitor Center and the Jordan Pond House bus stops, and at the Village Green in Bar Harbor.
- Automated on-board next-stop annunciators were installed on each Island Explorer bus.
- Parking information was made available on the Acadia website (This parking information was available for a limited amount of time during the post-deployment evaluation period).
- Automatic vehicle/ranger geo-location applications (planned but not deployed).
- Entrance traffic volume recorders (planned but not deployed).
- Parking lot monitoring devices (planned but not deployed, manual counts were collected instead to provide parking lot status information for two of the most popular parking lots).
- Island Explorer two-way voice communications were installed on buses.
- GPS Automatic vehicle locator (AVL) system.
- On-board automatic passenger counters (APC).
- Real-time transit status signs and parking information were installed to reduce congestion, improve mobility, and allow visitors to manage time to visit local businesses.
EVALUATION METHODS
Post-deployment data were collected during the summer tourist season of 2002. Mail-back questionnaires and interviews were used to measure impacts of ITS on customer satisfaction.
A visitor survey was conducted on the Island Explorer and at a number of selected sites within the Park from July 29 to September 1, 2002. These interviews along with a more extensive mail-back questionnaire were offered to visitors in order to garner more specific information on visitor awareness, use, and experience with ITS technologies at the Park. A total of 1278 adults agreed to the mail-back survey, and 928 usable questionnaires were returned for a 74 percent response rate.
VISITOR SURVEY RESULTS
- More than 80 percent of visitors surveyed indicated the real-time bus departure signs and the on-board next-stop announcements made it easier for them to get around. Sixty-nine (69) to 80 percent of visitors believed the ITS helped save them time.