Final report July 2003

Evaluation of Acadia Naitonal Park ITS Field Operational Test Cover Page

Executive Summary

This document presents the results of the evaluation of the ITS Field Operational Test (FOT) at Acadia National Park. Through the partnership of the U.S. Departments of Transportation and Interior, Acadia National Park in the State of Maine was selected for the FOT to test the effectiveness of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) in dealing with transportation problems within a National Park setting. ITS has provided effective tools for dealing with problems of traffic congestion in other settings, and the partners believed that testing the application of ITS in a National Park was warranted.

The ITS technologies were deployed over a two-year period and in 2002 they were evaluated to determine the impact of ITS on Acadia and the surrounding communities of Mount Desert Island. The benefits, impacts, and lessons learned that are documented in this report are directed not only to those associated with the FOT, but also to others involved with National Parks, gateway communities, and others interested in the potential for ITS in addressing similar transportation problems.

Background on the ITS Field Operational Test

As part of the National Park System, Acadia has as its dual mission the preservation of natural and cultural resources and providing visitors with a meaningful and pleasant experience. The mission is challenged by the intense usage that Acadia receives during the summer tourist season owing to its proximity to the population centers of the Northeast and the attraction of its pristine natural environment and the rugged beauty of the New England coast. Over 90% of visitors arrive by private vehicle, straining the capacity of the road system and parking areas within the Park and in the communities of Mount Desert Island, on which Acadia is located.

To develop an ITS plan to address the transportation problems at Acadia National Park, a project team was formed that consisted:

· local stakeholders—Acadia National Park, Maine Department of Transportation, Friends of Acadia, Maine Office of Tourism, and other local groups including representatives of local towns and businesses

· representatives of the sponsoring Federal agencies—U.S. DOT ITS Joint Program Office, FHWA Division Office, FHWA Federal Lands, and the National Park Service

· SAIC, Multisystems, and other contractors to assist in the design and implementation of ITS.

Together they planned a suite of nine different ITS components to support the region’s needs for public transportation management, traffic management, and traveler information. In the area of public transportation, the FOT was able to build on the success of the Island Explorer, a bus system launched in 1999 to provide free service during the tourist season throughout much of Mount Desert Island. Five of the nine components in the table below were used to enhance the operations of the Island Explorer. The remaining four components were to be used for assisting the Park in management of traffic and to provide real-time traveler information to visitors.

System Component	Functional Requirements
Island Explorer Two-way Voice Communications	Transmit and receive to/from/between vehicles and dispatch center
Automatic Vehicle Locator for Island Explorer	Compute and transmit vehicle location. Integrate vehicle locations with departure signs. Display vehicle locations. Integrate into annunciator
Departure Sign for Island Explorer	Transmit location. Compute departure. Transmit to departure signs
Automated Annunciator for Island Explorer	Determine location. Automatically play next stop and other pertinent announcements
Passenger Counter for Island Explorer	Auto-count boardings/ dismounts at selected stops. Store information.
Parking Lot Monitoring	Record number of vehicles entering and exiting, provide slow scan video of parking area, transmit data, display video, store data from vehicle counts
Automatic Ranger/Vehicle Geo-Location	Determine location +-10 meters, transmit same to server, display locations on map
Entrance Traffic Volume Recorder	Record and transmit number of vehicles entering and exiting, store data
Traveler Information System	Collect and integrate data, disseminate data to appropriate audience via telephone, Web, and parking status signs

Originally planned to be operational in 2001, technical and institutional difficulties arose that delayed the deployment for one year. In addition, not all the originally planned features were operational in 2002, such as the traffic counters as Park entrances and parking lots. One component, the automatic ranger/vehicle geo-location system was eliminated entirely for budgetary reasons.

The Evaluation Process

An independent evaluation of the ITS FOT took place from 2000 through 2003. Under contract to the U.S. DOT, Battelle Memorial Institute led the evaluation with support from the University of Maine. Baseline data that reflected conditions prior to the deployment of the ITS technologies were collected for the years 1999-2001, and data collected in 2002 measured the post-deployment impact of the ITS technologies.

A multi-step process was used to identify and prioritize the goals of the evaluation. Consensus among the stakeholders identified customer satisfaction and mobility as the top goals for the evaluation. Maintaining the visitor experience was critical to both Acadia National Park and to the communities of Mount Desert Island that rely upon the tourist economy, and thus assessing ITS from those perspectives was essential. However, importance was placed on assessment of other goal areas as well, including safety, efficiency, productivity and economic vitality, and energy and environment. Thus, evaluation plans were developed and implemented for all six goal areas, with resources allocated according to the priorities. Hypotheses regarding the anticipated impact of ITS in each goal area were developed and tested.

A variety of methods were used to collect data for assessing impacts of ITS. They included a mail survey of 928 visitors to Acadia in the summer of 2002, representing a response rate of 74%. Visitors indicated their perceptions of transportation problems during their visit, their awareness and use of the ITS technologies, and the impact ITS had on their travel experience. A mail survey of 257 businesses (60% response) throughout Mount Desert Island was used to gather information on business perceptions of the Island Explorer bus system and their awareness and use and benefits associated with the ITS technologies. Interviews with staff of the Island Explorer, Acadia National Park, and other stakeholders were used to assess their experience with ITS from an operational standpoint as well as to assess their overall deployment experience. Direct observation of visitor parking patterns was conducted in eight designated parking lots within the Park. Finally, operational data from the Island Explorer and records from Acadia National Park and various agencies within Maine State Government were used to assess the impact of ITS.

Results of the Evaluation

Many of the hypothesized impacts of ITS were supported by the evidence gathered. In other cases, the data were very limited but suggestive of the anticipated effect. In a few cases the impact was not observed or was counter to what was anticipated. Some of the key findings in each goal area include:

Customer Satisfaction

Visitors rated their overall experience and satisfaction with their visit very high, but travel experience during their visit was rated lower. Visitors expressed most concern about unsafe conditions caused by vehicles parked along main roads. Other top concerns were the number of automobiles both inside and outside the Park and their impact on air quality.

ITS-users expressed more concern about travel issues in general than non-ITS users and sought means to alleviate those concerns via ITS and the Island Explorer. Non-users, on the other hand, were either less sensitive to travel conditions or had strategies for coping with problems that didn’t involve the need for Island Explorer or ITS.

Visitors rated the ITS-based traveler information sources very highly (86% or more) on attributes of ease of use, understandability, and accuracy, and reported that the information helped relieve the stress or uncertainty of travel. The vast majority of users (78% or more) believed using the same ITS-based information again in a future visit would be a pleasant experience. Particularly promising are reports from ITS users that they would plan to use the information again.

Drivers and managers of the Island Explorer bus system expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the five ITS technologies associated with the buses. Managers believed that ITS improved bus operations and contributed to customer satisfaction, but they weren’t sure if ITS directly increased ridership. Drivers felt that ITS made their jobs easier and helped them to cope with increasing traffic and ridership.

Park managers believed that parking lot status signs and bus departure signs have a positive influence on congestion and traffic by facilitating bus travel, whereas Park rangers believed that the Island Explorer with ITS enhancements is helping to alleviate congestion but were less enthusiastic about the parking information signs.

Mobility

Real-time parking information was made it was easier for visitors to get around and avoid parking problems and traffic congestion. The parking information impacted decisions visitors made about travel in the Park. Of visitors using the parking information, 43% changed the time they visited a destination and 38% changed destinations based on the information.

Visitors strongly believed in the benefits of the Island Explorer’s real-time bus departure signs and the on-board bus announcements. Over 80% found that these ITS technologies made it easier to get around and 69-80% visitors believed ITS helped to save time. These results were consistent with previous studies of Island Explorer passengers who voiced strong support for the bus system even before ITS was implemented.

Important goals of the ITS technologies were to enhance visitors’ experience while at the same time encouraging them to use the Island Explorer bus rather than their private vehicles. ITS users of the electronic departure signs and on-board announcements reported that the technologies helped them decide to use the Island Explorer bus (80% and 67%, respectively). 44% of the users of the real time parking information said it helped them decide to use the Island Explorer bus. Thus, the ITS technologies appear to be contributing to the overall goal of diverting visitors from personal vehicles to using the Island Explorer bus.

Productivity and Economic Vitality

The majority of managers of businesses on Mount Desert Island recognize the importance of tourism and the benefits to their business or community from being situated near Acadia National Park. Nevertheless, transportation was one area that drew negative views, and they were concerned about tourist season parking and congestion as well as issues of air quality and safety.

Business managers clearly believe that the Island Explorer bus system helps to address some of their concerns about summer travel conditions, and 69% of the businesses reported that they provide information to visitors about the bus. They perceive several benefits from visitors using the bus, such as less worry about driving and parking along busy roads, relieving the stress of driving, improving air quality, creating safer conditions, reducing parking problems in the Park and providing greater access to Park destinations.

Business managers didn’t necessarily believe that more customers were patronizing their businesses because parking was less of a factor or that the Island Explorer would cause visitors to stay longer. On the other hand, managers of businesses whose customers and employees did not use the bus believed that businesses that were closer to a bus stop than their own enjoyed a competitive advantage.

The majority (61%) of business managers was not aware of ITS-based travel information sources, but their awareness was much greater for the technologies associated with the Island Explorer than the parking information signs and Website. Business managers perceived many benefits associated with visitors’ use of both the parking information and the Island Explorer bus technologies.

Length of stay by visitors, a measure of economic impact, was positively correlated with use of the Island Explorer and with use of ITS technologies associated with the bus. However, there was a great deal of uncertainty among business managers about whether visitors who use the Island Explorer tend to stay longer.

While it was expected that the Island Explorer operations would benefit from productivity improvements resulting from ITS technologies, the opposite happened and operational costs increased from 2001 to 2002 for a variety of reasons. Despite this overall increase, the cost per rider and per mile driven did decline.

Efficiency

While total recreational visitors to Acadia National Park during the summer season increased by 1.3% from 2001 to 2002, ridership of the Island Explorer increased by 17%. Thus, a higher proportion of Acadia summer recreational visitors used the bus after ITS was operational than before, growing from 15.6% in 2001 and 18.3% in 2002.

Fewer vehicles were parked outside designated parking spaces (excess parking) aftert ITS technologies were implemented. In eight lots where parking was monitored, the percentage of days when more than 300 vehicles were parked outside designated spaces fell from 54% in 2001 to 33% in 2002. Similarly, the average number of excess parked vehicles per day fell from 325 in 2001 to 274 in 2002 even though total number of visitors to the Park grew.

The real-time parking information posted on signs and on the Park’s Website was for two of the two most utilized parking lots, Sand Beach and Jordan Pond. Average excess parking per day at both lots fell after ITS was deployed.

The Island Explorer operations realized efficiency benefits after ITS implementation. Miles driven decreased slightly (-1.4%) even though ridership increased significantly (17%).

Interviews with Island Explorer staff indicated that voice communications between drivers and the dispatcher helped communicate information on large passenger loads and blocked roads. Managers voiced support for the automatic vehicle locator system for helping them with route management and monitoring buses for schedule adherence, speed, and position within the overall system.

Energy and Environment

Visitors exhibited a high degree of concern about vehicles negatively impacting air quality on Mount Desert Island—it ranked among the top five problems related to travel experience during their trip to Acadia National Park.

Emissions modeling that took into account the increase in ridership of the Island Explorer indicated that air quality benefited from the bus system, with an estimated additional 1.17 tons of emissions avoided in 2002, the year that ITS was operational.

A reduction in excess parking at Sand Beach and Jordan Pond parking lots suggest that ITS by moving visitors away from full lots and putting more visitors on buses may help address aesthetic concerns about the sight of many vehicles parked along roads detracting from the natural beauty of the Park.

Safety

Visitors to Acadia National Park identified safety as their top concern related to travel during their visit. Seventy percent of surveyed visitors thought that vehicles parked along the main roads caused unsafe conditions.

Motor vehicle accidents along routes of the Island Explorer within the Park decreased dramatically (-54%) during the summer months of 2002.

The voice communications and automatic vehicle location technologies on the Island Explorer provided safety benefits to drivers and managers of the bus system. Drivers were able to report accidents and other hazardous conditions, and managers were able to remotely locate buses in emergency situations.

Conclusions and Recommendations

This evaluation of ITS at Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island is based on one season of post-deployment experience. It is also based on a deployment that was not yet fully realized, because not all of the technologies were in place by the summer of 2002. Nevertheless, the results of the evaluation lead to a number of conclusions about the benefits that ITS provided. Recommendations based on these conclusions are also presented for further consideration by the FOT stakeholders and by other National Parks and gateway communities that must deal with similar transportation problems. Some of the conclusions and recommendations identified in this report include:

· ITS contributed to a positive visitor experience and increased visitors’ willingness to use transit rather than their own vehicles. Greater use of the Island Explorer appeared to be associated with improvements in air quality and possibly to overall traffic and motor vehicle crashes.

o The full deployment of the planned ITS technologies at Acadia should be completed and the system maintained so that the benefits can continue to be enjoyed.

· Visitors who use ITS traveler information tend to be the most concerned about travel problems during their stay, and ITS helps alleviate the problems they perceive. Conversely, those visitors least concerned about problems associated with using their own vehicles within the Park are also the least likely to use the ITS sources of traveler information.

o Marketing messages promoting tourism at Acadia and Mount Desert Island should find a way to inform visitors of the travel problems they might encounter and emphasize the Island Explorer as a solution that is free and easy to use with the ITS enhancements.

· Real-time parking information, despite the limited deployment of signs at three locations and the Park Website, was used by visitors, who reacted to it positively. The information appears to have the desired effect of reducing excess parking at the two advertised parking lots that are the most popular destinations in the Park—Sand Beach and Jordan Pond. Although only about 40% of visitors reported they changed their plans based on real-time parking information, even that percent could help lessen the demand for parking. Indeed, the statistics on excess parking in the Park’s lots suggest that ITS helped to lower demand for parking within the Park through a combination of real-time information on parking status provided to visitors and making visitors aware that the Island Explorer is an attractive option for reaching desired destinations.

o Consideration should be given to adding real-time information on parking lot status at other destinations within the Park. Expansion of information on parking conditions can be justified from the standpoint of customer satisfaction and better management of the Park’s transportation resources.

o An explicit recommendation to “take the bus” on signs displaying information on parking status would give clear guidance to visitors about their options for travel at the point of decision.

· Based upon the findings about the perceived benefits of ITS to users, the implication is that traveler information could be potentially useful to the customers of many businesses whose managers are currently unaware of the ITS technologies and traveler information.

o Mechanisms are needed to help raise awareness among business managers and their employees so that they promote these types of traveler information sources to their customers.

· Although no clear case can be made that visitors are attracted to Acadia and Mount Desert Island because of the Island Explorer, use of the Island Explorer is associated with the most economically attractive types of visitors because they stay longer and spend more. Since visitors reported that the ITS technologies played a role in their decision to use the bus and enhanced their experience with the bus, ITS would appear to be useful from an economic development standpoint.

o Businesses of Mount Desert Island should be further educated about the potential impact of ITS on the local economy and should encourage use of the Island Explorer and traveler information in promotion of Mount Desert Island tourism more than they currently do.

Table of Contents

Page

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................................. ii

1.0...... INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................... 1-1

1.1...... Acadia National Park: The Setting......................................................................... 1-1

1.2...... Transportation Problems at Acadia National Park................................................... 1-2

1.3...... ITS as a Potential Solution to Transportation Problems at National Parks................ 1-3