Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments for a New Information Collection

Michael Howell
Federal Highway Administration
28 December 2017

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 248 (Thursday, December 28, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61659-61660]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-28034]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[Docket No. FHWA-2017-0053]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments 
for a New Information Collection

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The FHWA invites public comments about our intention to 
request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for a new 
information collection, which is summarized below under SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal 
Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Please submit comments by February 26, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT Docket ID FHWA 
2017-0053 by any of the following methods:
    Website: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
    Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
    Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    Hand Delivery or Courier: U.S. Department of Transportation, West 
Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 
Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James March, 202-366-9237, or William 
Linde, 202-366-9637, Office of Transportation Policy Studies, Federal 
Highway Administration, Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. Office hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Using Behavioral Economics to Better Understand Managed Lane 
Use.
    Background: The Exploratory Advanced Research (EAR) Program is 
administered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and intends 
to spur innovation by focusing on higher risk research. A research 
project awarded under the EAR program will use experiments with 
behavioral economics (BE) to improve models used to predict travelers' 
use of priced managed lanes (MLs). The research will recruit 
participants who currently travel on freeways with MLs. Based on prior 
research, travelers either make a pre-determined decision or 
consciously choose between taking and not taking the ML trip. Selected 
research participants will undergo laboratory-based BE tests to examine 
the personal decision-making process used to select or not select the 
ML trip. The laboratory-based tests will incorporate an initial survey 
of participants and the use of a driving simulator. The tests will also 
examine whether behavior can charge given stimuli. Follow-up field 
trials will attempt to generalize the results from the BE simulator 
experiments for use in real-world settings. The field trials will 
investigate the impact of how the communication of travel information 
will influence travelers' lane choice. The results from the research 
will potentially form a new model for estimating travelers' lane choice 
behavior, if findings show a deviation of practice from traditional 
estimates of ML use.
    Respondents: Approximately 24,000 respondents will be engaged at 
the beginning of the project. The later tasks will require 240 
respondents, with half from the Washington, DC metropolitan region and 
the other half from the Dallas/Fort Worth, TX metropolitan region. 
Approximately 400 student respondents will be surveyed to help refine 
the survey instrument.
    Frequency: Approximately 24,000 potential participants will 
complete a short survey at to gauge interest for later research 
activities. Approximately 400 students will complete at least one 
survey collection and one in-person computer-based test. The 240-person 
respondent pool will complete at least one survey collection and one 
in-person computer-based test. An approximate subset of 40 participants 
from the 240-person respondent pool will participate in a second 
simulator test to help pre-test the methodology for the latter field 
trials. An approximate subset of 120 participants from the 240-person 
respondent pool will participate in the field test.
    Estimated Average Burden per Response: The 24,000-person respondent 
pool will need 5 minutes to compete the initial survey. The 400-person 
student group will need 3 hours to complete the survey and in-person 
computer-based test. The 240-person respondent pool will need 3 hours 
to complete the survey and in-person computer-based test. The 40-person

[[Page 61660]]

subset from the from the 240-person respondent pool will need 2 hours 
to complete a driving simulator study. The 120-person subset from the 
from the 240-person respondent pool will need 45 minutes to partake in 
the field test.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: Approximately 2,000 hours to 
complete the initial 5-minute survey. Approximately 2,790 hours to 
complete all the other later activities.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed 
collection is necessary for the FHWA's performance; (2) the accuracy of 
the estimated burdens; (3) ways for the FHWA to enhance the quality, 
usefulness, and clarity of the collected information; and (4) ways that 
the burden could be minimized, including the use of electronic 
technology, without reducing the quality of the collected information. 
The agency will summarize and/or include your comments in the request 
for OMB's clearance of this information collection.

     Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1.48.

     Issued On: December 21, 2017.
 Michael Howell,
Information Collection Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-28034 Filed 12-27-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-22-P