Agency Information Collection Activities: Notice of Request for Approval of a New Information Collection

Juli Huynh
Federal Highway Administration
September 7, 2010

[Federal Register: September 7, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 172)]
[Notices]               
[Page 54416-54417]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07se10-84]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[Docket No. FHWA-2010-0114]

 
Agency Information Collection Activities: Notice of Request for 
Approval of a New Information Collection

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of request for approval of a new information collection.

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SUMMARY: The FHWA invites public comments about our intention to 
request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of a new 
information collection that 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 November 8, 2010.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT Docket ID Number 
2010-0114 by any of the following methods:
    Web site: 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.
    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: Karen White, (202) 366-9474, Office of 
Innovative Program Delivery, Federal Highway Administration, Department 
of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Experiments on Driving under Uncertain Congestion Conditions 
and the Effects on Traffic Networks from Congestion Pricing 
Initiatives.
    Background: The traditional way of financing the transportation 
system in the U.S. is currently being challenged and new revenue 
schemes are being evaluated for possible implementation. In addition, 
the growth in traffic volumes overwhelms the ability to finance 
additional road capacity. Congestion pricing is gaining support across 
the world as a way to solve the congestion problem and thereby ease the 
congestion cost to the public and at the same time generate revenues 
that can be used to fund additional transportation capacity. While 
congestion pricing strategies have been implemented in several parts of 
the world, the implementation is still relatively limited in this 
country.
    This study will assess the responses to several congestion pricing 
schemes by asking volunteer participants to make driving choices under 
these schemes in an experiment. The study will present participants 
with a number of choice situations involving routes that vary in road 
pricing and travel time. Three basic types of experiments will be 
conducted: A field experiment using Global Positioning System (GPS) 
trackers; a multi-driver traffic simulation experiment; and a single 
driver simulator experiment. In addition to these experiments 
participants will answer short demographic questionnaires and short 
surveys of their driving habits.
    The initial phase will consist of recruiting participants by 
sending out invitation letters to potential participants who are 
drivers on select routes in the Miami, Florida, Orlando, Florida and 
Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan areas. Local toll road agencies have 
agreed to collaborate with the researchers in this phase. The 
invitation will ask those who are interested to complete a survey 
online. This survey is used to filter respondents based on how 
frequently they drive on the selected routes. A typical respondent will 
complete this survey in 30 minutes. Respondents who express interest in 
being part of the experiments will be asked to attend four face-to-face 
sessions. There will be a choice of times and locations for these 
sessions so as to make it convenient for the participant.

[[Page 54417]]

In these sessions participants will be presented with lottery choices, 
betting tasks, and simulator driving tasks, in addition to a short 
questionnaire about their demographics and driving habits. These tasks 
are intended to observe characteristics in drivers that are important 
to their driving choices when roads are congested. The choice tasks, 
questionnaires and simulator driving tasks will require four and one 
half hours of the participant's time, spread over the four meetings. In 
addition, all participants' cars will be outfitted with a GPS device 
that can receive but not send signals, allowing us to collect 
information on driving habits. The installation is simple and will only 
take a couple of minutes. All driving data will be downloaded directly 
from the device to a computer. Sensitive data, such as the home and 
work locations of the drivers, will not be downloaded. Approximately 
two weeks will pass between each meeting; a time frame that is 
determined by the capacity of the GPS device's ability to store data of 
subjects' travel log. The total time required for instructing 
participants in the field driving task, installing the device, and 
downloading all the data will be one hour, spread out over the four 
sessions. All the 1,200 participants will have their car equipped with 
a GPS while participating in the study. However, since we partition the 
study into three parts there will be a maximum of 400 cars that have 
GPS installed at any time in the field experiment.
    Participants will attend four meetings. At the first meeting they 
receive their GPS devise. At subsequent meetings, data from the GPS 
devise will be downloaded to allow the researchers to study the driving 
choices in the intervening weeks. During the first two meetings they 
will also be given driving simulator tasks, lottery and betting tasks, 
and questionnaires. Meetings will be spaced approximately two weeks 
apart. Participants will receive money for driving on the routes 
studied but tolls that vary across routes and departure times will be 
subtracted from this money. If a toll from the study is applied to a 
route that already has a toll, the existing toll is subtracted from the 
toll charge in the study. If the existing toll is higher than the toll 
charge in the study, the participant will be paid the difference from 
the study. Some routes will have no toll charge. Participants will also 
receive money in a similar manner for driving in the simulators, and 
for the non-simulator choice tasks. There will also be a fixed 
compensation for attending each of the four sessions, and for 
completing the entire study.
    A total of 1,200 persons will participate, divided across the three 
regions. 10 weeks will be needed to complete the 4 sessions for each 
group of participants. 100 of these participants will be expected to 
volunteer for an additional 10 week field driving period for additional 
monetary compensation. The sessions will be timed very carefully since 
the student research assistants helping the participants will not be 
available during final exam periods and certain breaks.
    Respondents: 1200 participants are expected to participate 
throughout all tasks.
    Frequency: In phase 1, a survey will be completed via the Internet, 
followed by four face-to-face meetings and three two-week periods of 
driving with a GPS devise for most participants and twice that for a 
few selected participants. The face-to-face meetings will take place 
within a 10-week period. For those who are selected to double their 
participation there will be a break before starting the second period.
    Estimated Average Burden per Response: The online questionnaire 
will require 30 minutes for a typical respondent. Two of the face-to-
face meetings will last two hours each, the third meeting will last one 
hour, and the final meeting will be completed in thirty minutes. This 
time covers the 4\1/2\ hours for the simulator tasks, the other choice 
tasks, and questionnaires, and the one hour for installing the GPS 
device, instructing participants in the field driving task plus 
downloading the GPS data to a computer. The average time allocation per 
participant is therefore expected to be 6 hours. For those who choose 
to double their participation there will be a need for an additional 
two hours spread across four meetings.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: Approximately 7,600 hours.

6 hours x 1200 participants = 7200.
2 hours x 200 participants = 400.

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

    Issued on: August 30, 2010.
Juli Huynh,
Chief, Management Programs and Analysis Division.
[FR Doc. 2010-22164 Filed 9-3-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-22-P