Route choice preferences: insights from Portuguese freight forwarders and truck drivers

ABSTRACT

Exploring route choice in the context of tolled alternatives can support road operators to achieve better utilization of the infrastructure, as well as maximizing revenue collection. The research presented in this paper is conducted in the context of OPTIMUM, a European Union-funded project. The research objectives include a two-component system of models that proactively calculates commercial vehicles’ toll prices. The component presented in this paper rests on the development of a route choice model that estimates the probabilities of using two alternative routes (toll road vs. national road), based on route attributes and user characteristics. To explore the usefulness of the proposed methodology a case study involving 50 truck drivers and 25 freight operators was conducted in Portugal between January 2016 and November 2017. Results from the route choice model reveal interesting insights about the role of incentives in the choice of toll roads, the perspectives of the different decision-makers and produce Values of Time for the study area.