Promoting ATIS use: The smartraveler experience

In 1993, the SmarTraveler ATIS was introduced to travelers in the greater Boston area as part of an operational test jointly funded by the Federal Highway Administration and the Massachusetts Highway Department. The service offers real-time, route-specific travel information for major highways and public transit throughout eastern Massachusetts. Users access the information by phone while it is continuously being updated. SmarTraveler was marketed to both cellular and landline phone users using a variety of strategies, including radio and TV ads and mentions, newspapers, billboards and other signage, literature inserts, employer programs, and collateral promotional elements. During the three year time period from January 1993 to January 1996, the service grew to nearly 60,000 calls per week by an average of over 20,000 users. Evaluation studies and monitoring of the service were commissioned for three years to examine the degree to which users respond to the program. The evaluation included extensive surveys of users and non-users and tracking of calls and call frequency. Using the survey data, the effectiveness of various marketing strategies used by SmarTraveler to reach its target market was examined. This paper presents the findings of the independent evaluation team regarding the success of these efforts in reaching the target population and the degree to which they influenced awareness, trials and call-making.