Analysis and Design of Markets for Tradable MobilityCredit Schemes

Abstract

Tradable mobility credit (TMC) schemes are an approach to travel demand management that have received significant attention in the transportation domain in recent years as a promising means to mitigate the adverse environmental, economic and social effects of urban traffic congestion. In TMC schemes, a regulator provides an initial endowment of mobility credits (or tokens) to all potential travelers. In order to use the transportation system, travelers need to spend a certain amount of tokens (tariff) that could vary with their choice of mode, route, departure time etc. The tokens can be bought and sold in a market that is managed by and operated by a regulator at a price that is dynamically determined by the demand and supply of tokens. This paper proposes and analyzes alternative market models for a TMC system (focusing on market design aspects such as allocation/expiration of credits, rules governing trading, transaction costs, regulator intervention, price dynamics), and develops a methodology to explicitly model the dis-aggregate behavior of individuals within the market. Extensive simulation experiments are conducted within a departure time context for the morning commute problem to

MobilityCoins -- A new currency for the multimodal urban transportation system

“…Nevertheless, Krabbenbourg et al (2021) notice that a mobility TP is yet far from applying to our current mobility system, while at the same time it is mentioned as a promising (theoretical) instrument (Chen et al, 2021;Liu et al, 2020). In order to get closer to realization further research is required, especially when it comes to the infrastructure voting.…”

Congestion tolling — Dollars versus tokens: Within-day dynamics

“…Bao et al (2019) show that the equilibrium with a tradable credit scheme may not be unique for particular models of traffic congestion, including the first-best solution for the conventional Vickrey's bottleneck model. Liu et al (2020) examine properties of a TCS in a departure time context using a day-today modeling framework and a trip-based MFD model of traffic congestion, and Chen et al (2021) examine market design aspects of the TCS, including allocation and expiration of tokens, price adjustment, regulator intervention, and the role of transaction fees. Finally, Brands et al (2020) conduct an interesting lab-in-the-field experiment of tradable credit schemes with virtual mobility behavior and real financial incentives.…”