Value of Travel Time Savings on Managed Lanes for Urgent Situations
In this paper, the authors investigate six common situations under which travelers may consider switching from the general purpose lanes to the managed lanes. Using a stated preference survey data developed for the Katy Freeway, in Houston, Texas, the authors investigate whether values of travel time savings (VTTS) differ based on ordinary and urgent situations faced by travelers. The results of a mixed logit model show that travelers value their travel time savings very highly when faced by most of these urgencies and that the highest value is attached to running late for an important meeting or event. The mean VTTS for the urgent situations was found to be as high as five times the sample individual’s mean VTTS for an ordinary situation trip. This study highlights the fact that travelers from all income levels are willing to pay for fast and reliable travel- at least when there is a particular need to avoid slow traffic. The authors also found that managed lanes are not “Lexus lanes” used for typical trips only by high income commuters. The authors findings also shed some light on the underestimation issues that arise when using traditional stated preference surveys. The authors suggest that this could be because previous studies have tended to ignore situations of urgency. These findings will also be helpful in setting the toll rates for managed lanes, and especially those with variable pricing.
Burris Ph.D., P.E, Mark W
Shaw, William Douglass
TRT Terms: Commuters; General purpose lanes; Managed lanes; Stated preferences; Systems analysis; Traffic flow; Traffic models; Travel time; Traveler information and communication systems; Value of time