Using spike model to reduce traffic congestion and improve public transportation in Malaysia

In this study, passengers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for and willingness to accept (WTA) improved public transportation and shift to public transportation in Malaysia were examined. Specifically, this study aimed to determine the factors or transport attributes that affect passenger WTA and WTP to shift to public transportation. The adopted methodology was based on a contingent valuation (CV) survey, which was conducted on a representative sample of a cross section in residents of Kajang, in Malaysia. This CV primary survey elicited the demand of passengers for improved public transportation. The spike model was adopted to avoid estimation errors caused by a large percentage of respondents who were unwilling to pay and accept at all. The estimation results showed that the best reduction rate for both travel time and cost was 45% among other amounts that range from 15% to 75%. The best parking cost increment was US$0.30 and the average WTP is US$0.68.     

Enhanced traffic information dissemination to facilitate toll road utilization: a nested logit model of a stated preference survey in Texas

This paper investigates the effects of the provision of traffic information on toll road usage based on a stated preference survey conducted in central Texas. Although many researchers have studied congestion pricing and traffic information dissemination extensively, most of them focused on the effects that these instruments individually produce on transportation system performance. Few studies have been conducted to elaborate on the impacts of traffic information dissemination on toll road utilization. In this study, 716 individuals completed a survey to measure representative public opinions and preferences for toll road usage in support of various traffic information dissemination classified by different modes, contents, and timeliness categories. A nested logit model was developed and estimated to identify the significant attributes of traffic information dissemination, traveler commuting patterns, routing behavior, and demographic characteristics, and analyze their impacts on toll road utilization. The results revealed that the travelers using dynamic message sign systems as their primary mode of receiving traffic information are more likely to choose toll roads. The potential toll road users also indicated their desire to obtain traffic information via internet. Information regarding accident locations, road hazard warnings, and congested roads is frequently sought by travelers. Furthermore, high-quality congested road information dissemination can significantly enhance travelers’ preferences of toll road usage. Specifically the study found that travelers anticipated an average travel time saving of about 11.3 min from better information; this is about 30 % of travelers’ average one-way commuting time. The mean value of the time savings was found to be about $11.82 per hour, close to ½ of the average Austin wage rate. The model specifications and result analyses provide in-depth insights in interpreting travelers’ behavioral tendencies of toll road utilization in support of traffic information. The results are also helpful to shape and develop future transportation toll system and transportation policy.     

Nonlinear pricing in linear cities with elastic demands

Nonlinear road pricing charges each traveler based on his/her trip’s corresponding particular attribute level. In order to help authorities in designing road pricing systems at a strategic level, this paper attempts to address two fundamental questions: (i) what is the value of pricing’s nonlinearity for mitigating traffic congestion? (ii) if a nonlinear toll function is implemented, should it be convex, concave or other shape? Specifically, we consider distance-based pricing in linear cities. For linear monocentric cities with heterogeneous travelers, we show that the system optimal distance-based pricing indeed exhibits nonlinearity. It is proved that: (i) the cost-based system optimal toll function is monotonically increasing and concave with respect to the traveled distance; (ii) the time-based system optimal toll function always exists and is unique. If the initial proportion of each traveler group is invariant along a corridor and the demand function is of exponential type, then the time-based system optimal toll function enables the travelers, living further away from a city center, to face a lower toll level per unit distance. For a linear polycentric city, we demonstrate: (i) there always exists the system optimal differentiated (in terms of city centers) toll functions; (ii) it is highly possible that the system optimal non-differentiated toll function does not exist. Hence, we further propose an optimal toll design model, prove the Lipschitz continuity of its objective and adopt a global-optimization algorithm to solve it.     

Modeling intermodal equilibrium for bimodal transportation system design problems in a linear monocentric city

This paper investigates the intermodal equilibrium, road toll pricing, and bus system design issues in a congested highway corridor with two alternative modes - auto and bus - which share the same roadway along this corridor. On the basis of an in-depth analysis of the demand and supply sides of the bimodal transportation system, the mode choice equilibrium of travelers along the continuum corridor is first presented and formulated as an equivalent variational inequality problem. The solution properties of the bimodal continuum equilibrium formulation are analytically explored. Two models, which account for different infrastructure/system regulatory regimes (public and private), are then proposed. In the public regulatory model, the road toll location and charge level are simultaneously optimized together with the bus service fare and frequency. In the private regulatory model, the fare and frequency of bus services, which are operated by a profit-driven private operator, are optimized for exogenously given toll pricing schemes. Finally, an illustrative example is given to demonstrate the application of the proposed models. Sensitivity analysis of residential/household distribution along the corridor is carried out together with a comparison of four different toll pricing schemes (no toll, first best, distance based, and location based). Insightful findings are reported on the interrelationships among modal competition, market regulatory regimes, toll pricing schemes, and urban configurations as well as their implications in practice.     

Shifting towards environment-friendly modes: profiling travelers using Q-methodology

Due to a variety of reasons, the previous century is characterized by an extraordinary growth in car use that has continued into the current century. This has resulted in serious environmental repercussions. Despite technological advancements, the externalities remain an ecological threat that can not be discarded by policy makers. Therefore, it is essential that policy makers focus on reducing car use and on stimulating the shift towards more environment-friendly transport modes. In this study, Q-methodology is adopted as the technique to segment people, and to ascertain which approaches and determinants matter to medium distance travel. Segmentation is important, as policy measures will be more efficient and effective if they are fine-tuned on specific target groups. The analysis revealed that four discourses preponderate the paradigm of environmentally sustainable transport: travelers who use public transport as a dominant alternative, car-dependent travelers, travelers with a positive perception of using public transport, and travelers with a preference for car use. Concerning rational, economic motives, individuals evaluate travel time reliability as most important. To increase the reliability policy makers should consider the use of separate bus lanes and traffic light manipulation. In addition, public transport can be made even more attractive, when costs of cars are made more variable by road or congestion charging. When the s motives are discussed, the differences between the different groups of travelers were more pronounced. Next to increasing the benefits of using public transport, policy makers should also pay attention to removing psycho-social barriers.

Comparing travel mode and trip chain choices between holidays and weekdays

Choices of travel mode and trip chain as well as their interplays have long drawn the interests of researchers. However, few studies have examined the differences in the travel behaviors between holidays and weekdays. This paper compares the choice of travel mode and trip chain between holidays and weekdays tours using travel survey data from Beijing, China. Nested Logit (NL) models with alternative nesting structures are estimated to analyze the decision process of travelers. Results show that there are at least three differences between commuting-based tours on weekdays and non-commuting tours on holidays. First, the decision structures in weekday and holiday tours are opposite. In weekday tours people prefer to decide on trip chain pattern prior to choosing travel mode, whereas in holiday tours travel mode is chosen first. Second, holiday tours show stronger dependency on cars than weekday tours. Third, travelers on holidays are more sensitive to changes in tour time than to the changes in tour cost, while commuters on weekdays are more sensitive to tour cost. Findings are helpful for improving travel activity modeling and designing differential transportation system management strategies for weekdays and holidays.     

Traveler expectations and willingness-to-pay for Web-enabled public transport information services

Web-enabled public transport (PT) information systems that combine information on different PT modes, different PT companies and different geographical regions, can be built to improve the accessibility of public transportation. As the potential list of information aspects that can be included in such systems is long, it is interesting to examine the relative importance of different information aspects. This study reports the relative importance travelers attach to a range of information aspects. In addition, the willingness to pay for this information was examined by conducting a stated choice experiment, in which price was traded off against groupings of information aspects. The results of the study indicate that even though public transport travel information is highly price sensitive, travelers are willing to pay for it if the information systems provide additional functionality such as real-time information and, to a lesser extent, additional trip planning options.     

Bayesian network-based formulation and analysis for toll road utilization supported by traffic information provision

Congestion pricing has been proposed and investigated as an effective means of optimizing traffic assignment, alleviating congestion, and enhancing traffic operation efficiencies. Meanwhile, advanced traffic information dissemination systems, such as Advanced Traveler Information System (ATIS), have been developed and deployed to provide real-time, accurate, and complete network-wide traffic information to facilitate travelers’ trip plans and routing selections. Recent advances in ATIS technologies, especially telecommunication technology, allow dynamic, personalized, and multimodal traffic information to be disseminated and impact travelers’ choices of departure times, alternative routes, and travel modes in the context of congestion pricing. However, few studies were conducted to determine the impact of traffic information dissemination on toll road utilizations. In this study, the effects of the provisions of traffic information on toll road usage are investigated and analyzed based on a stated preference survey conducted in Texas. A Bayesian Network (BN)-based approach is developed to discover travelers’ opinions and preferences for toll road utilization supported by network-wide traffic information provisions. The probabilistic interdependencies among various attributes, including routing choice, departure time, traffic information dissemination mode, content, coverage, commuter demographic information, and travel patterns, are identified and their impacts on toll road usage are quantified. The results indicate that the BN model performs reasonably well in travelers’ preference classifications for toll road utilization and knowledge extraction. The BN Most Probable Explanation (MPE) measurement, probability inference and variable influence analysis results illustrate travelers using highway advisory radio and internet as their primary mode of receiving traffic information are more likely to comply with routing recommendations and use toll roads. Traffic information regarding congested roads, road hazard warnings, and accident locations is of great interest to travelers, who tend to acquire such information and use toll roads more frequently. Travel time formation for home-based trips can considerably enhance travelers’ preferences for toll road usage. Female travelers tend to seek traffic information and utilize toll roads more frequently. As expected, the information provided at both pre-trip and en-route stages can positively influence travelers’ preferences for toll road usage. The proposed methodology and research findings advance our previous study and provide insight into travelers’ behavioral tendencies concerning toll road utilization in support of traffic information dissemination.     

Travel time variability and airport accessibility

We analyze the cost of access travel time variability for air travelers. Reliable access to airports is important since the cost of missing a flight is likely to be high. First, the determinants of the preferred arrival times at airports are analyzed. Second, the willingness to pay (WTP) for reductions in access travel time, early and late arrival time at the airport, and the probability to miss a flight are estimated, using a stated choice experiment. The results indicate that the WTPs are relatively high. Third, a model is developed to calculate the cost of variable travel times for representative air travelers going by car, taking into account travel time cost, scheduling cost and the cost of missing a flight using empirical travel time data. In this model, the value of reliability for air travelers is derived taking “anticipating departure time choice” into account, meaning that travelers determine their departure time from home optimally. Results of the numerical exercise show that the cost of access travel time variability for business travelers are between 0% and 30% of total access travel cost, and for non-business travelers between 0% and 25%. These numbers depend strongly on the time of the day.     

重大节假日收费公路免费通行问题探析

重大节假日免收小型客车通行费这一新的规定实施以后,在社会上引起了极大反响.文章阐述了收费公路节假日免费通行的重大意义,同时分析了重大节假日收费公路实施免费通行所遇到的困难和问题,并提出了破解问题的思路与对策.     

Existence of self-financing and Pareto-improving congestion pricing: Impact of value of time distribution

This paper considers a static congestion pricing model in which travelers select a mode from either, driving on highway or taking public transit, to minimize a combination of travel time, operating cost and toll. The focus is to examine how travelers’ value of time (VOT), which is continuously distributed in a population, affects the existence of a pricing-refunding scheme that is both self-financing (i.e. requiring no external subsidy) and Pareto-improving (i.e. reducing system travel time while making nobody worse off). A condition that insures the existence of a self-financing and Pareto-improving (SFPI) toll scheme is derived. Our derivation reveals that the toll authority can select a proper SFPI scheme to distribute the benefits from congestion pricing through a credit-based pricing scheme. Under mild assumptions, we prove that an SFPI toll always exists for concave VOT functions, of which the linear function corresponding to the uniform distribution is a special case. Existence conditions are also established for a class of rational functions. These results can be used to analyze more realistic VOT distributions such as log-normal distribution. A useful implication of our analysis is that the existence of an SFPI scheme is not guaranteed for general functional forms. Thus, external subsidies may be required to ensure Pareto-improving, even if policy-makers are willing to return all toll revenues to road users.     

What do commuters think travel time reliability is worth? Calculating economic value of reducing the frequency and extent of unexpected delays

The measurement of transportation system reliability has become one of the central topics of travel demand studies. A growing literature concerns the measurement of value of travel time reliability which provides a monetary cost of avoiding unpredictable travel time. The goal of this study is to measure commuters’ sensitivities to travel time reliability and their willingness to pay (WTP) to avoid unreliable routes. The preferences are elicited through a pivoted stated preference survey technique. To circumvent the issue of presenting numerical distributions and statistical terms to day-to-day commuters, we use the frequency of delay days as a means of measuring traveler’s sensitivities to travel time reliability. The advantage of using simplified measures to elicit traveler preferences for travel time reliability is that these methods simply compare days with high delay to days with usual travel time. It was found that travelers are not only averse to the amount of unexpected delay but also to the frequency of days with unexpected delays. The paper presents WTP findings for three measures: travel time, frequency embedded travel time, and travel time reliability. The ‘reliability’ increase in WTP for travel time is found to be nearly proportional to the frequency of experiencing unexpected delays. For example, the WTP for mean travel time is calculated at $6.98/h; however, reliability adds $3.27 (about 50 % of $6.98) to avoid unexpected delays ‘5 out of 10 days’. The results of the study would provide valuable inputs to cost-benefit analyses and traffic and revenue studies required for road tolling investment projects.     

Design of income-equitable toll prices for high occupancy toll lanes in a single toll facility

Income inequity potentially exists under high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes whereby higher-income travelers may reap the benefits of the facility. An income-based multi-toll pricing approach is proposed for a single HOT lane facility in a network to maximize simultaneously the toll revenue and address the income equity concern, while ensuring a minimum level-of-service on the HOT lanes and that the toll prices do not exceed pre-specified thresholds. The problem is modeled as a bi-level optimization formulation. The upper level model maximizes revenue for the tolling authority subject to pre-specified upper bounds on tolls. The lower level model solves the stochastic user equilibrium problem. An agent-based solution approach is used to determine the toll prices by considering the tolling authority and commuters as agents. Results from numerical experiments indicate that a multi-toll pricing scheme is more equitable and can yield higher revenues compared to a single toll price scheme across travelers.     

Drivers’ willingness-to-pay to reduce travel time: evidence from the San Diego I-15 congestion pricing project

The adoption of congestion pricing depends fundamentally upon drivers’ willingness to pay to reduce travel time during the congested morning peak period. Using revealed preference data from a congestion pricing demonstration project in San Diego, we estimate that willingness to pay to reduce congested travel time is higher than previous stated preference results. Our estimate of median willingness to pay to reduce commute time is roughly $30 per hour, although this may be biased upward by drivers’ perception that the toll facility provides safer driving conditions. Drivers also use the posted toll as an indicator of abnormal congestion and increase their usage of the toll facility when tolls are higher than normal.     

How a fast lane may replace a congestion toll

This paper considers a congested bottleneck. A fast lane reserves a more than proportional share of capacity to a designated group of travelers. Travelers are otherwise identical and other travelers can use the reserved capacity when it would otherwise be idle. The paper shows that such a fast lane is always Pareto improving under Nash equilibrium in arrival times at the bottleneck and inelastic demand. It can replicate the arrival schedule and queueing outcomes of a toll that optimally charges a constant toll during part of the demand peak. Within some bounds, the fast lane scheme is still welfare improving when demand is elastic.     

A forecast air pollution model applied to a hypothetical urban road pricing scheme: An empirical study in Madrid

Reducing the air pollution from increases in traffic congestion in large cities and their surroundings is an important problem that requires changes in travel behavior. Road pricing is an effective tool for reducing air pollution, as reflected currently urban road pricing outcomes (Singapore, London, Stockholm and Milan). A survey was conducted based on establishing a hypothetical urban road pricing system in Madrid (a random sample size n = 1298). We developed a forecast air pollution model with time series analysis to evaluate the consequences of possible air pollution decreases in Madrid. Results reveal that the hypothetical road pricing for Madrid could have highly significant effects on decreasing air pollution outside of the city and in the inner city during the peak operating time periods of maximum congestion (morning peak hours from 7:00 to 10:00 and evening peak hours from 18:00 to 20:00). Furthermore, this system could have significant positive effects on a shift toward using public transport and non-motorized modes inside the hypothetical toll zone. This reveals that the system has a high capacity to motivate a decrease in air pollution and impose more sustainable behavior for public transport users.     

Estimation of train dwell time at short stops based on track occupation event data: A study at a Dutch railway station

Train dwell time is one of the most unpredictable components of railway operations, mainly because of the varying volumes of alighting and boarding passengers. However, for reliable estimations of train running times and route conflicts on main lines, it is necessary to obtain accurate estimations of dwell times at the intermediate stops on the main line, the so‐called short stops. This is a great challenge for a more reliable, efficient and robust train operation. Previous research has shown that the dwell time is highly dependent on the number of boarding and alighting passengers. However, these numbers are usually not available in real time. This paper discusses the possibility of a dwell time estimation model at short stops without passenger demand information by means of a statistical analysis of track occupation data from the Netherlands. The analysis showed that the dwell times are best estimated for peak and off‐peak hours separately. The peak‐hour dwell times are estimated using a linear regression model of train length, dwell times at previous stops and dwell times of the preceding trains. The off‐peak‐hour dwell times are estimated using a non‐parametric regression model, in particular, the k‐nearest neighbor model. There are two major advantages of the proposed estimation models. First, the models do not need passenger flow data, which is usually impossible to obtain in real time in practice. Second, detailed parameters of rolling stock configuration and platform layout are not required, which makes the model more generic and eases implementation. A case study at Dutch railway stations shows that the estimation accuracy is 85.8%–88.5% during peak hours and 80.1% during off‐peak hours, which is relatively high. We conclude that the estimation of dwell times at short stop stations without passenger data is possible. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bottleneck congestion pricing and modal split: Redistribution of toll revenue

The paper examines the question of the redistribution of toll revenue as seen in a bottleneck congestion model. Our objective is to analyse the impact of this redistribution on total cost and on modal split between railroad and road. Following Tabuchi’s two-mode model (Tabuchi, T., 1993. Bottleneck congestion and modal split. Journal of Urban Economics 34, 414-431.), we integrate a redistribution of toll revenue towards public transport into our study. In this context, we investigate two kinds of road toll regimes: a fine toll and a uniform toll. We will consider two types of railroad fare: when it is set equal to the marginal cost and when it is set equal to average cost. These models allow us to show that toll policy to be more efficient as long as toll revenue is directed towards public transport when the railroad fare is equal to average cost.     

How much is too much for tolled road users: Toll saturation and the implications for car commuting value of travel time savings?

The current practice of forecasting the demand for new tolled roads typically assumes that car users are prepared to pay a higher toll for a shorter journey, and they will keep doing so as long as the toll cost is not higher than their current value of travel time savings. Practice ignores the possibility that there could be a point when motorists stop driving on toll roads due to a toll budget constraint. The unconstrained toll budget assumption may be valid in networks where the addition of a new toll road does not result in a binding budget constraint that car users may have for using toll roads (although it could also be invoked for existing tolled routes through a reduction in use of a tolled route). In a road network like Sydney which offers a growing number of (linked) tolled roads, the binding budget constraint may be invoked, and hence including additional toll links might in turn reduce the car users’ willingness to pay for toll roads to save the same amount of travel time. When this occurs, car users are said to reach a toll saturation point (or threshold) and begin to consider avoiding one or more toll roads. Whilst toll saturation has important implications for demand forecasting and planning of toll roads, this type of behaviour has not been explored in the literature. We investigate the influence that increasing toll outlays has on preferences of car commuters to use one or more tolled roads as the number of tolled roads increases. The Sydney metropolitan area offers a unique laboratory to test this phenomenon, with nine tolled roads currently in place and another five in planning. The evidence supports the hypothesis that the value of travel time savings decreases as a consequence of toll saturation.     

Valuing time and reliability: assessing the evidence from road pricing demonstrations

This paper compares results from evaluations of two recent road pricing demonstrations in southern California. These projects provide particularly useful opportunities for measuring commuters’ values of time and reliability. Unlike most revealed preference studies of value of time, the choice to pay to use the toll facilities in these demonstrations is relatively independent from other travel choices such as whether to use public transit. Unlike most stated preference studies, the scenarios presented in these surveys are real ones that travelers have faced or know about from media coverage. By combining revealed and stated preference data, some of the studies have obtained enough independent variation in variables to disentangle effects of cost, time, and reliability, while still grounding the results in real behavior. Both sets of studies find that the value of time saved on the morning commute is quite high (between $20 and $40 per hour) when based on revealed behavior, and less than half that amount when based on hypothetical behavior. When satisfactorily identified, reliability is also valued quite highly. There is substantial heterogeneity in these values across the population, but it is difficult to isolate its exact origins.