DIRECT: A Comparison of Alternative Driver Information Systems

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) recently initiated a three-year program named DIRECT, which stands for Driver Information Radio Experimenting with Communication Technologies. The DIRECT Project has been designed specifically to test, in an operational setting, alternative driver-information systems. DIRECT is being undertaken as a national IVHS operational field test and is funded through a public/private partnership between FHWA (50%), MDOT (25%), and several automobile and electronic component manufacturers (25%). This paper describes the system, starting from the initial decisions on the project concept through the physical and experimental design concepts.