USER ACCEPTANCE OF GEORGIA'S ADVANCED TRAVELER INFORMATION SYSTEM KIOSK

Concord Associates, Inc. (Concord) is a member of a team of evaluators that is evaluating the Georgia Department of Transportation's Advanced Traveler Information System (ATIS) Kiosk. The ATIS kiosk is being developed to receive information from the metropolitan Atlanta Regional Transportation Management Center and will interact with users to provide travel and tourist information. The kiosk will provide the following types of information: Atlanta metro area traffic information, Atlanta metro area route planning information, Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) itinerary planning information, MARTA transit schedule, Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) information (ride sharing, car pooling), Amtrak information, Greyhound information, Cobb County Transit (CCT) information, Hartsfield Airport airline schedules, weather conditions, travel and tourism information, and general information (Olympic, major events, etc.). Kiosks will be placed at DOT tourist information centers, rest areas, hotels, major employment centers, 1996 Olympic venue sites, state and local government facilities, tourist destinations, and public transportation terminals. Team members from Concord will be assessing the user acceptance of the ATIS kiosk. User acceptance of the kiosk will be influenced by many variables, including ease-of-use, the user interface, and environmental variables. In order to evaluate the user acceptance of the kiosk, Concord is using several different methodologies, each of which contribute unique data to the study of user acceptance. These methodologies are: questionnaires, focus groups, observational studies, kiosk transaction logs, secondary research, and expert evaluation. They will sample residents living in the Atlanta area, experienced travelers to the Atlanta area, first time travelers to the Atlanta area, and people who live outside the Atlanta area and have never or rarely traveled to the Atlanta area. The methodologies will provide data related to the extent of kiosk use, user attitudes, impact on traveler behavior, perceived value, user preferences, impact on environmental and ergonomic factors, extendibility, and improvement of the kiosks. User acceptance is critical to the success of a self-service kiosk. It must be assured that the kiosk's interface, the usability of the kiosk, and the environmental factors provide the best combination of factors to contribute to high levels of acceptance.