Sensor location problems in path-differentiated congestion pricing

Path-differentiated congestion pricing is a tolling scheme that imposes tolls on paths instead of individual links. One way to implement this scheme is to deploy automated vehicle identification sensors, such as toll tag readers or license plate scanners, on roads in a network. These sensors collect vehicles’ location information to identify their paths and charge them accordingly. In this paper, we investigate how to optimally locate these sensors for the purpose of implementing path-differentiated pricing. We consider three relevant problems. The first is to locate a minimum number of sensors to implement a given path-differentiated scheme. The second is to design an optimal path-differentiated pricing scheme for a given set of sensors. The last problem is to find a path differentiated scheme to induce a given target link-flow distribution while requiring a minimum number of sensors.     

Transport infrastructure and long-run economic growth in OECD countries

This paper provides an empirical evaluation of the growth impact of public infrastructure in a panel of 18 OECD countries during 1870–2009. This study goes beyond the traditional analysis of growth accounting models by exploring the indirect effect of stock of core infrastructure on output growth through its impact on productivity. Constructing a long-run historical dataset on infrastructural capital formation spanning from 1870, estimated results show that growth in both labour productivity and total factor productivity are positively, but not substantially, influenced by growth in the stock of infrastructure. Furthermore, applying the system GMM technique (Generalised Method of Moments) revels that although rate of returns to investment in infrastructure exceed the private rate in OECD countries, it is not as high as positive externalities associated with investment in equipment and structure investment.     

The effect of code-share agreements on the temporal profile of airline fares

This paper aims at investigating how the pricing strategy of European airlines is affected by code-share agreements on international routes. Our data cover several routes linking the main UK airports to many European destinations and includes posted fares collected at different days before departure. By analyzing the temporal profile of airline fares, we identify three main results. First, code-share increases fares especially for early bookers. Second, the higher prices in code-shared flights are offered by marketing carriers. Finally, in single operator code-shared flights (unilateral code-share), the pricing profile is flatter than under parallel code-share.     

Is car drivers’ response to congestion charging schemes based on the correct perception of price signals?

This paper deals with the question of whether the capability of car drivers to estimate the cost of a new hypothetical, highly differentiated congestion charge influences their decision to change travel behaviour. The analysis makes use of an integrated choice and latent variable model (ICLV) which merges classic choice models with the structural equation approach (SEM) for latent variables. This hybrid model improves the explanatory power considerably compared with a conventional discrete choice model. The results suggest that charge complexity decreases the resistance in considering behavioural changes. Car drivers tend to avoid a travel option where the price is not known beforehand, a phenomenon known as ambiguity avoidance.     

Distinguishing the land use effects of road pricing based on the urban form attributes

This paper studies the effects of road pricing on land use under different development scenarios (business as usual scenario and transit oriented development scenario) by a quantitative method, which combines the integrated land use and transport interaction model (TRANUS model) with the scenario-planning techniques. Moreover, in order to further analyze the differences of the land use effects of road pricing on traffic analysis zones (TAZs) with different urban form attributes, a quantitative classification method combining factor analysis and cluster analysis is then used to quantitatively classify TAZs. The results demonstrate that the effects of road pricing on the land use of a specific region depend on the urban form attributes of the region. The higher the densities of employments and population, and better street design (high densities of street and intersections) and public transportation condition, the less the region is negatively affected by road pricing, and vice versa. More importantly, rail transit can alleviate the negative impact of road pricing on commercial development and population concentration of the region. Therefore, before introducing a road pricing policy, it is necessary to develop public transport system, especially rail transit.     

The politics of collective public participation in transportation decision-making

Citizen involvement in transportation planning is typically modeled on a liberal democracy in which individuals express their preferences about a project. In this paper we present an analysis based on interviews with stakeholders whose involvement was grounded in a complementary model of public participation, one in which an organized community used collective action (instead of only individual expression), and worked both within and outside of the formal public involvement process to influence the design of an arterial highway in their neighborhood. This case reflects a commonplace context for public participation: residents opposing a highway expansion and the negative effects of heavy traffic in neighborhoods. The problem presented in this case is that the process for citizen involvement was not designed to fully utilize the community’s collective capacity. Three aspects of collective action—representation, the ability to shape a policy agenda, and methods of engagement—were contested in the public participation process. We argue that these conflicts around collective action in the public participation process exposed its “one-way communication,” and enabled a different kind of political process in which neighbors’ organizing was powerful and influenced decisions.     

Air pollution dynamics and the need for temporally differentiated road pricing

In this paper we investigate the effects of the temporal variation of pollution dispersion, traffic flows and vehicular emissions on pollution concentration and illustrate the need for temporally differentiated road pricing through an application to the case of the congestion charge in Stockholm, Sweden. By accounting explicitly for the role of pollution dispersion on optimal road pricing, we allow for a more comprehensive view of the economy–ecology interactions at stake, showing that price differentiation is an optimal response to the physical environment. Most congestion charges in place incorporate price bands to mitigate congestion. Our analysis indicates that, to ensure compliance with air quality standards, such price variations should also be a response to limited pollution dispersion.     

A scalable non-myopic dynamic dial-a-ride and pricing problem for competitive on-demand mobility systems

We propose a competitive on-demand mobility model using a multi-server queue system under infinite-horizon look-ahead. The proposed approach includes a novel dynamic optimization algorithm which employs a Markov decision process (MDP) and provides opportunities to revolutionize conventional transit services that are plagued by high cost, low ridership, and general inefficiency, particularly in disadvantaged communities and low-income areas. We use this model to study the implications it has for such services and investigate whether it has a distinct cost advantage and operational improvement. We develop a dynamic pricing scheme that utilizes a balking rule that incorporates socially efficient level and the revenue-maximizing price, and an equilibrium-joining threshold obtained by imposing a toll on the customers who join the system. Results of numerical simulations based on actual New York City taxicab data indicate that a competitive on-demand mobility system supported by the proposed model increases the social welfare by up to 37% on average compared to the single-server queuing system. The study offers a novel design scheme and supporting tools for more effective budget/resource allocation, planning, and operation management of flexible transit systems.     

A novel peer-to-peer congestion pricing marketplace enabled by vehicle-automation

This paper proposes a novel concept of congestion pricing based on voluntary peer-to-peer exchange of money between motorists in exchange for one ceding priority to another in a traffic stream. While in the classical congestion charging paradigm payments are compulsory and flow only towards the system operator, in the proposed marketplace participation is voluntary and motorists directly compensate each other. A particular motorist may find that he/she is a ‘payer’ at certain points in a given journey and a ‘payee’ at others.Humans would not be expected to successfully seek, negotiate and execute a continuous series of peer-to-peer trades involving micro-payments while also handling the cognitively-demanding task of driving; real-world implementation will therefore require vehicles operating under fully-automated control in both the longitudinal and lateral dimensions during the time periods that they seek and engage in trades. The automated vehicle control algorithms must be sufficiently intelligent and adaptable to enable alternative maneuvers on short timescales, given the inherent uncertainty of whether or not a potential trade will in fact be executed. The peer-to-peer trading would be executed algorithmically, subject to strategic-level guidance given by a vehicle’s occupant(s) regarding the occupant’s relative valuation of money and priority in the traffic stream.In this paper we detail the prospective marketplace and present a simple simulation model to expose its properties. We show that the proposed peer-to-peer marketplace could lead to both desirable and undesirable outcomes; which of these would be predominant is a matter requiring empirical study. The paper concludes with a discussion of further research needs to refine and develop these concepts into practice.