Road Pricing Simulations: Traffic, Land Use and Welfare Impacts for Austin, Texas

Abstract

This article explores the traffic, land use and welfare impacts of road pricing in the Austin (Texas, USA) region, including the introduction of planned toll roads, bridge tolls, and a downtown cordon toll. Different tolling strategies are examined, including fixed versus variable toll rates. The travel demand model (TDM) incorporates joint mode and time-of-day choice models, as well as multinomial model of destination choice, relying on a full feedback of travel times and costs. Austin-calibrated DRAM-EMPAL models are used to predict future household and job distributions. Results include traffic redistribution over space and time, long-term location choice changes, and traveler welfare implications. While the proposed toll roads to generate revenues and enhance traveler options, their estimated project costs are not estimated to exceeds such benefits. In addition, the bridge tolls are expected to successfully redistribute traffic, while the downtown area appears highly sensitive to cordon tolls.

Variations in Toll Road Impacts: Case Studies from Texas

“…8 (See, e.g., Gupta 2004 andGupta et al 2005. ) This resulted in the use of 15 feedbacks for Austin.…”

“…However, due to the lack of better data, there was no way to select any of these solutions over the one where the scale parameter was unaltered. For more details on development of the joint MDT choice models for DFW and El Paso, readers may refer to Kalmanje (2005) or Kockelman et al (2005).…”

“…The Austin TDM application process is described in detail by Kalmanje and Kockelman (2004 Kalmanje and Kockelman (2004) and Gupta et al (2005).] The method of successive averages (MSA) was used to achieve demand system and network equilibrium in model applications.…”

“…The 2007 demographic inputs in Austin's trip generation models were computed by Gupta et al (2005) from applying the Austin TDMs in conjunction with DRAM-EMPAL land use models (Krishnamurthy and Kockelman 2003) in a five-year feedback loop, starting in the year 1997. The Austin TDM application process is described in detail by Kalmanje and Kockelman (2004 Kalmanje and Kockelman (2004) and Gupta et al (2005).]…”

Optimal and Long-Term Dynamic Transport Policy Design: Seeking Maximum Social Welfare through a Pricing Scheme

“…Safirova et al (2006) evaluated the long-term effects of a road-pricing policy based on the integrated model of land-use, strategic transport and regional economy, and compared them with the short-term effects obtained from another model. Gupta, Kalmanje, and Kockelman (2006) explored the traffic, land-use and welfare impacts of road pricing in the Austin (Texas) region, introducing various road pricing simulations. On the other hand, Zhang et al (2011) tackle with the problem of congestion pricing in multiple regions where each local administrative region sets its own toll levels using various bi-level models.…”