Investigators:
| Mark E. Hallenbeck Director TRAC/UW |
(206) 543-6261 | tracmark@u.washington.edu |
| Scott Rutherford Professor Civil & Environmental Engineering |
(206) 685-2481 | scottrut@u.washington.edu |
| Yinhai Wang Assistant Professor Civil & Environmental Engineering |
(206) 616-2696 | yinhai@u.washington.edu |
Please note that we cannot ensure the confidentiality of information sent via email.
We are asking you to be in a research study. The purpose of this information form is to give you the information you will need to help you decide whether or not to be in the study. Please read the form carefully. You may ask questions about the purpose of the research, what we would ask you to do, the possible risks and benefits, your rights as a volunteer, and anything else about the research or this form that is not clear. When all your questions have been answered, you can decide if you want to be in the study or not. This process is called ‘informed consent.’ You can keep a copy of this statement
We would like to know if providing drivers with traffic information both in and outside their cars will help both drivers and traffic. We would like to provide drivers with traffic information in their cars using a small, portable, electronic device. We would like to survey drivers who use the traffic device.
If you choose to be in this study, we would like you to use an electronic device over a 4-month period. The device shows information about traffic congestion, and can be placed in the car where the information can be useful but is not distracting to you when you are driving. We will give you information about how to use the device safely.
Before using the device, we would like you to fill out an on-line survey that describes general information about you, such as your income and normal driving habits. The survey will take about 15 minutes to complete. You do not have to answer every question.
Over a 4-week period in the middle of the study, we would like you to fill out short surveys on a daily and weekly basis. The daily survey will take about 1 minute each time. The weekly survey will take about 5 minutes each time. The surveys will ask you if you used the electronic device in planning or conducting your trip, and how the information from the device may have changed or reinforced your normal routine. You do not have to answer every question.
At the end of the 4-month period, we would like you to fill out a final on-line survey. The survey will ask more questions about your normal driving routine, and how the electronic device affected your routine, if at all. The survey will take no longer than 5 minutes. You do not have to answer every question.
Some people feel that providing information for research is an invasion of privacy. I have addressed concerns for your privacy in the section below (please review "Other Information").
The traffic device is not intended to be a distraction to driving or to otherwise lower driving safety. Be sure to read and to follow the Product Safety Warning guidance to ensure safe use of the device while driving.
Except for the free TrafficGauge, you will not directly benefit from taking part in this research study. However, we hope that the results of this study will help improve traffic flow and the commuter experience in the greater Seattle area.
Taking part in this study is voluntary. You can stop at any time. You can choose to take part in the study, to not take part in the study, or to withdraw from the study without loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. For example, your choice will not affect your employment.
The first survey you fill out will be directly associated with your name and email address, if you provide it. After that, information about you is confidential. We are collecting survey information from you. The electronic device will not collect information about you. We will code the study information. We will keep a link between your name and the code until September 2010. Then we will destroy the link. If we share data with other researchers, or if the findings of this study are published or presented, we will not use your name.
Although we will make every effort to keep your information confidential, no system for protecting your confidentiality can be completely secure. It is possible that unauthorized persons might discover that you are in this study, or might obtain information about you. Government or university staffs sometimes review studies such as this one to make sure they are being done safely and legally. If a review of this study takes place, your records may be examined. The reviewers will protect your privacy. The study records will not be used to put you at legal risk or harm.
You may keep the traffic device after your participation in this study ends. We will pay the monthly fee to receive traffic information for the first 6 months that you have the device. After that time, you may choose to either keep or to discontinue the service. Participants are not required to extend the service. TrafficGauge will not know who receives a device and cannot contact anyone for billing or promotions, and they cannot send any information after the study ends. The device tells you when the free service ends and when it requires a new subscription, and it provides a phone number to call and pay using a credit card, if you choose to do this. Plans range between $5 and $10 a month, depending on the length of the contract. You may view published service rates at http://www.trafficgauge.com.
We may want to contact you about taking part in future research related to this study; for example, by taking part in a focus group. In that case, we will contact you and tell you more about the new study procedures. Please indicate in the exit survey (the final online survey that you will be asked to complete) whether we may contact you for this purpose. Choosing to allow us to re-contact you does not obligate you to take part in future studies in any way.
If you have questions later on about the research you can ask one of the investigators listed above. If you have questions about your rights as a research subject, you can call the Human Subjects Division at (206) 543-0098 or e-mail at hsd@u.washington.edu. You will receive a copy of this information form.
Please note:
All of the TrafficGauges have been assigned to participants in the research study, and registration has closed.
Very truly yours,
Mark E. Hallenbeck
Director
TRAC/UW
tracmark@u.washington.edu
Please note:
All of the TrafficGauges have been assigned to participants in the research study, and registration has closed.