Evaluation of a Natural Speech Based Informational Inquiry System as a Potential Means to Increase Transit Utilization

Details

• Creators:
  Glass, Jim
• Corporate Creators:
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Demographics Highways I72: Traffic And Transport Planning Interfaces Planning And Forecasting Public Transit Public Transportation Real Time Information Research Hub Ridership Speech Recognition Traveler Information And Communication Systems Voice Communication

  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  MITR22-6
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• TRIS Online Accession Number:
  01501353
• Edition:
  Final Report
• Corporate Publisher:
  New England University Transportation Center
• Abstract:
  This project proposed to explore the potential of a user friendly, natural speech based information inquiry application as one means of increasing public transit utilization. It suggested that a key challenge to expanding transit ridership isto encourage people who have not used a system to develop familiarity with it. The initial phase of the project focused on gathering strategic information from potential users on implementations of a speech interface they would be most likely to use and the types of information they perceive as being most useful in supporting and/or increasing their use of the transit system. Attention was focused on how demographic factors such as age and gender, as well as technology experience, impact on preferences and likely willingness to consider using various implementations of such systems. Parallel to the start of this project, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and Massachusetts Department of Transportation developed broad accessibility to real-time data for the commercial development of applications for traffic and public transit availability. Google and other third party developers quickly developed robust applications utilizing this information that have undergone rapid optimization making the development of a research based evaluation difficult. In essence, the state of the technology was moving too fast to take a snapshot of an application for an extended assessment of its impact on mobility. The project was therefore extended somewhat to include a broader examination of the impact of speech-based interfaces in a wider variety of transportation-related scenarios.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:5888426d54d02afe1bf0f978e453209928cb3b30203043a3f36f32ad92ef689a
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/26599/dot_26599_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 213.40 KB ]