TITLE:
Examining Potential Travel Time Savings Benefits Due to Toll Rates That Vary by Lane
AUTHORS:
Negin Alemazkoor, Mark Burris
KEYWORDS:
Differential Toll Rates, Travel Time Savings, Value of Travel Time
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Transportation Technologies,
Vol.4 No.3,
July
31,
2014
ABSTRACT: By
assigning different toll rates to different lanes during peak traffic hours,
the demand for each lane of a road can be optimized. Lanes with lower travel
times charge higher toll rates which are paid by those drivers who have higher values
of travel time (VTT) and who want to avoid congestion in the other lanes.
Conversely, travel time for those drivers with lower values of travel times
will increase as they select the lower priced and slower lanes. This research
examines toll rates that minimize the total value of travel time spent on the
road under such a scenario. The optimum toll rates are dependent on the total
road volume and distribution of VTT. The results show that total saved value of
travel time can easily reach 11% of the total value of time spent traveling on
the lanes when compared to a toll road with a uniform toll rate for all lanes.
These savings vary based on many factors including the number of travelers on
urgent trips.