The effects of removing the Trondheim toll cordon

This article presents the effects of removing the Trondheim toll cordon, which was closed after nearly 15 years of operation on December 31, 2005. The traffic levels, measured as vehicles per hour, in 2006 are compared to traffic levels in 2005. The evaluation also covers the effect on the retail market and possible environmental effects. We also seek to investigate what the traffic levels would have been today if the cordon had still been in operation. We find that the closing of the Trondheim toll cordon has lead to increased traffic levels in the peak hours, with an average increase of 11.3% in the former charging hours of 06:00–18:00. On an average, the hours between 14:00 and 18:00 experienced an increase in traffic of 15.5%, whilst traffic in the evenings and nights decreased. Model results suggest that the removal of the toll cordon has caused the private car to increase its modal share at the expense of passengers per car, public transport and cycling/walking. The increase in the total number of trips would have been more uniformly distributed among the alternatives if the toll cordon had still been in operation.     

Congestion tolls and parking fees: A comparison of the potential effect on travel behavior

This paper presents a comparison of attitudes towards congestion and parking tolls and explores their effect on travel behavior. The findings indicate that drivers are sensitive mainly to congestion tolls and are willing to change their travel habits to avoid these tolls. The major effect of a congestion toll is the shifting of the time of the journey. High levels of demand elasticity (−1.8 for congestion tolls and −1.2 for parking fees) were found. The readiness to pay parking fees is greater; thus, the effectiveness of congestion tolls in reducing demand is higher during the times the tolls apply.     

Discrete choice models of traveler participation in differential time of day pricing programs

Tolls that vary based on time of day or congestion are gaining attention around the world as a potential travel demand management strategy that can shift peak period travel to off peak periods thereby contributing to peak period congestion relief. However, despite the widespread interest in the concept, there is very little empirical data available on the impacts of variable tolls on traveler choices and disaggregate models that can be used to predict traveler response to variable pricing are few. This paper reports on results from two bridges with differential time of day tolls in the Lee County area of Florida in the United States. Using travel survey data collected at these two bridges, discrete choice models of traveler response to the variable toll rates are estimated. The models indicate that travelers who are retired, have a low income, have flextime at their place of employment, or have a flexible travel schedule are more likely to alter their time of travel with greater frequency due to the variable toll.     

The multi-class, multi-criterion traffic equilibrium and the efficiency of congestion pricing

We consider the effect of the so-called second-best tolls on the price of anarchy of the traffic equilibrium problem where there are multiple classes of users with a discrete set of values of time. We derive several bounds of the price of anarchy for this problem when the tolls are considered and not considered as part of the system cost, with the time-based criterion and the cost-based criterion, respectively. All the bounds give us useful information on the effect of the tolls, which can be used to design network toll schemes.     

Urban transport pricing reform with two levels of government: A case study of Brussels

This paper analyses two challenges in the reform of urban transport pricing. First the construction of an optimal package of urban transport pricing instruments assuming one benevolent welfare maximizer. It is found that parking and tolling are the most important elements of the optimal package and that these policy instruments are sub-additive in their benefits. The second problem is the use of pricing instruments by different government levels: the urban government controls parking fees and the regional government controls a cordon toll. It is found that the overall efficiency losses in the Nash and Stackelberg equilibria are limited.     

Flat versus spatially variable tolling: A case study in Fresno,California

A number of studies have examined the feasibility of temporal variations in tolls. However, spatial variation in tolls has not received much attention, especially in practice. Spatial variation could effectively reduce congestion and increase profits. To fill this gap, we conduct an empirical application on 3 different road segments using the Fresno, California's transportation planning model. Our modeling results in a number of interesting insights. First, the derived optimal flat toll values are very close to the average variable tolls, but the effects of applying spatially variable tolls on improving total revenues (from 4% to 24%) and total improved travel time (from 18% to 1083%) measures are significant. Second, spatially variable tolls are more effective, but more costly, particularly for arterials, which can be attributed to the higher number of access points for arterials. Third, spatial variations in tolls are more effective for peak hours than for off-peak hours and for social optimization than for profit maximization. Fourth, to improve throughputs for both profit maximization and social optimization, the prevalent tolling pattern along a corridor induces lower final volumes per capacity (V/Cs) (after pricing) at the mainline flow sections and relatively higher final V/Cs at the entrance and exit (boundary) points. Finally, optimal toll patterns are not dependent on vehicle miles traveled (VMTs) or volumes but, rather, are related to targeted V/Cs. Therefore, flow-dependent charges along a corridor should be based on V/Cs rather than on volumes or VMTs.     

Toll financing in Norway: The success,the failures and perspectives for the future

Public funds for road investments have been subjected to constraints in many countries over the past three decades. Many governments have therefore resorted to financing road infrastructure using tolls. This article investigates what the future may offer with respect to toll financing in Norway. The changing environment in which transport planning takes place requires adaptations such as transforming tolls into congestion pricing schemes. Lessons from Norway may be useful for decision makers in Europe and elsewhere who are concerned with toll financing.     

Measuring regional differences in users' perceptions towards interurban toll roads

Public acceptability is crucial to achieve the successful implementation of certain policy initiatives. In the transport sector, this is especially relevant for toll roads since they entail a burden to the users. Previous literature in this field has mainly focused on analyzing the influence of different individual characteristics on attitudes towards road charges, without clear results. However, other context-specific drivers such as regional parameters may also play an important role to explain users' attitudes, especially when the implementation of tolls within the same nation varies throughout regions. The goal of this paper is to analyze regional differences in users' perceptions with regard to tolls as an appropriate way to finance the provision of road infrastructure. Based on a nationwide survey conducted to road users in interurban toll roads in Spain, we develop a multilevel logit model to explore regional differences in drivers' perceptions. The research concludes that differences identified seem to be more influenced by context-specific variables, related to either the characteristics of the toll road or the region, than by the characteristics of the individuals. The paper also underlines the negative effects of an asymmetrical distribution of toll roads across regions on users' perceptions, since those territories especially suffering the burden of tolls show a more negative attitude towards road charging.     

Norway's urban toll rings: Evolving towards congestion charging?

The role of various types of road user tolls has been an important part of Norwegian transport development for a number of years. There are now around 50 such projects in operation around the country. This paper examines the urban toll ring projects and presents results from new research into the schemes in Norway's three largest cities: Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim. The research indicates that key decisions are being debated as to whether the schemes will continue as toll rings, be stopped completely or transformed into more of a demand management style policy. Interviews with road and local authorities have shown that the feelings are mixed and that the decision will depend on various transport, social, organisational and political factors.This paper reviews the cases of Bergen, Oslo and Trondheim and documents the latest developments in each scheme. The theory behind the application of the toll rings is explored through the case studies. Despite all the projects being implemented by similar networks, each scheme developed its own individual characteristics. These are laid alongside the economic and transport benefits with which they have been associated. The Strategic Policy Niche Management framework is used to analyse various aspects of the toll projects and identify key lessons. The effect these might have on future UK projects is also discussed.     

Optimal distance tolls under congestion pricing and continuously distributed value of time

This paper addresses the optimal distance-based toll design problem for cordon-based congestion pricing schemes. The optimal distance tolls are determined by a positive and non-decreasing toll-charge function with respect to the travel distance. Each feasible toll-charge function is evaluated by a probit-based SUE (Stochastic User Equilibrium) problem with elastic demand, asymmetric link travel time functions, and continuously distributed VOT, solved by a convergent Cost Averaging (CA) method. The toll design problem is formulated as a mixed-integer mathematical programming with equilibrium constraints (MPEC) model, which is solved by a Hybrid GA (Genetic Algorithm)–CA method. Finally, the proposed models and algorithms are assessed by two numerical examples.     

The politico-economic link between public transport and road pricing: An ex-ante study of the Stockholm road-pricing trial

A full-scale road pricing trial will be performed in Stockholm for 7 months in 2006. The road tolls are bundled with major improvements of public transport. The trial will be followed by a local referendum. We conduct numerical simulations with a model of modal choice to estimate the welfare effects of road tolls on commuters crossing the toll zone. We find that in the absence of revenue recycling, few commuters gain from the road-toll reform. However, the fraction of gainers rises considerably when public transport is improved as planned in Stockholm.     

Evidence on users’ attitudes towards road user charges—A cross-sectional survey of six Norwegian toll schemes

Attitudes towards road user charges have in the last decade become a focus of interest for researchers and planners in a number of disciplines including economics, transport planning and environmental sciences. Most of the literature has been based on single and/or hypothetical schemes and has a number of limitations, such as the potential differences in attitudes that might depend on whether users have actually experienced the gains of tolling are not considered. This paper gives further insight into user attitudes towards road user charges and overcomes some of the limitations observed in the literature. In particular, we examine attitudes towards six different Norwegian toll schemes with different characteristics and at different stages of implementation. The results show the following: (i) road users think negatively of tolls irrespective of the type of scheme or stage of charging; (ii) negative attitudes are highly correlated with the level of information given to users on the intentions of the tolling prior to implementation and (iii) toll levels significantly impact attitudes. Further, it is shown that attitudes vary significantly with socioeconomic characteristics. These findings demonstrate that governments need marketing strategies that clearly explain the benefits to users beforehand. Some of these strategies are proposed.     

Congestion pricing in the absence of demand functions

This paper enhances a trial-and-error implementation scheme of marginal-cost pricing on a transportation network, in the absence of explicit expression of the demand function. Link tolls and link flows are updated for the next trial with the revealed link flows for given current trial toll pattern. The method is quite simple, requiring only some function evaluations. Also, the step size is not required to be square summable, thereby leading to the improvement of the efficiency of the algorithm. The global convergence of the method is proved and some numerical results are reported to illustrate its performance.     

Estimating congestion toll by using traffic count data — Singapore's area licensing scheme

There are many studies on the Area Licensing Scheme in Singapore. One of the debatable issues is whether or not the congestion toll of $3 is too high. The main objective of this paper is to develop a simple method for estimating the congestion toll by directly using the commonly available traffic count data. In our sensitivity analysis, we use three different scenarios on the choice of the value of travel time savings and four different measures of average wage rates (the national average wage rate the average wage rate for car owners with or without taking into consideration of employment benefits, and the average wage rate per car derived from the average occupancy per car). The sensitivity analyses led to a general conclusion that by 1990, the $3 fee was not too high. We also highlight the fact that it is possible to iterate to the optimal congestion toll by comparing the theoretical congestion toll with the actual toll even when the demand curve is unknown. ©     

How large is the gap between present and efficient transport prices in Europe?

In this paper, we analyse the gap between present transport prices and efficient transport prices. Efficient transport prices are those prices that maximise economic welfare, including external costs (congestion, air pollution, accidents). The methodology is applied to six urban and interregional case studies using one common optimal pricing model. The case studies cover passenger as well as freight transport and cover all modes. We find that prices need to be raised most for peak urban passenger car transport and to a lesser extent for interregional road transport. Optimal pricing results for public transport are more mixed. We show that current external costs on congested roads are a bad guide for optimal taxes and tolls: the optimal toll that takes into account the reaction of demand is often less than one third of the present marginal external cost.     

Effects of parking and cordon charge policies on tourist's modal shift in central business district of Mashhad city,Iran

The second largest holy city of the world, Mashhad, attracts high volumes of tourists and pilgrims every year. Most visitors travel by private car and are a source of considerable funds for the local economy. Among road users, tourists as one of the major traveller categories in Mashhad city behave differently due to the particular trip purpose. The aim of this research is to model tourist's shifting modes of travel behaviour when policy measures, such as the parking and cordon fares, are implemented. The tourists’ preferences were examined using binary logit analysis when different options of travel cost and time scenarios were provided. Results indicate that travel time, parking cost, cordon cost, education level and vehicle price influence tourist's modal choice. In addition, the finding shows that congestion pricing will be more effective than a parking pricing strategy in encouraging switching of modes.     

Bergen light rail – Effects on travel behaviour

Bergen is the second most populous city in Norway (280,000 inhabitants) and is situated along the west coast of the country. In 2010, the city reintroduced tram service with the opening of a new light rail line, after a gap of 45 years. This study documents the increase in public transit use in Bergen, both in terms of volume and market share, since the line was opened. Furthermore, it explores the effects of light rail transit on travel behaviour using Bergen as a case city. These goals are accomplished by combining and analysing data from different sources, including five travel surveys, and other data concerning building stock, population, business activity, commuting and traffic counts. The study identifies four potential driving forces for changes in travel behaviour: (1) the introduction of the light rail; (2) a new high-frequency bus network; (3) increased rates in the toll cordon system; and (4) changes in the urban structure. The study concluded that the introduction of light rail was the main driving force behind the growth in public transit use. The study also highlighted that transit use was highest in areas served by the light rail. The effects of the light rail investments are reinforced by an optimal location of the line with respect to potential users.     

Demand and operating cost forecasting accuracy for toll road projects

Inaccurate forecasts represent a major source of risk in road and toll projects because they could result in financial difficulties or even bankruptcy. This paper focuses on demand and operating cost forecasting accuracy for Norwegian toll projects by comparing the forecasted and actual levels of traffic and operating costs. The differences among the types of projects and the effects of project size, time and demand ramp-up are also examined. Our study finds that traffic forecasts for Norwegian toll projects are fairly accurate, on average. However, a majority of the investigated projects experienced overestimation, and a huge general error in the forecasts suggests that this is also a source of risk that merits greater scrutiny. Inaccuracies are common among all project types and sizes. Operating costs are frequently underestimated; on average, these costs are about 30% higher than estimated.     

Modelling the impact of alternative pricing policies on an urban multimodal traffic corridor

This paper investigates the effects of alternative or joint schemes of road pricing and parking pricing to verify if private behaviour in operating parking facilities, road tolling and transit systems can lead to profitable results in the private sector and for public welfare. The evaluation is carried out using an idealised urban multimodal traffic corridor with some numerical examples that show the effects of different pricing policies. A Deterministic User Equilibrium assignment procedure is used to calculate certain performance indicators such as user travel costs, social costs and private profit. The results show that the system is highly sensitive to pricing policy and that a proper joint pricing of park-and-ride facilities, city centre parking and road tolls can be developed to simultaneously attain good private and social benefits.     

Using time-varying tolls to optimize truck arrivals at ports

An analytical point-wise stationary approximation model is proposed to analyze time-dependent truck queuing processes with stochastic service time distributions at gates and yards of a port terminal. A convex nonlinear programming model is developed which minimizes the total truck turn time and discomfort due to shifted arrival times. A two-phase optimization approach is used to first compute a system-optimal truck arrival pattern, and then find a desirable pattern of time-varying tolls that leads to the optimal arrival pattern. Numerical experiments are conducted to test the computational efficiency and accuracy of the proposed optimization models.