Browsing by Subject "HOT lanes"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    HOT or Not: driver elasticity to price and alternative pricing strategies on the MnPASS HOT Lanes
    (2013-12) Janson, Michael Risch
    The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has added MnPASS High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes on two freeway corridors in the Twin Cities. While not the first HOT lanes in the country, the MnPASS lanes are the first implementation of road pricing in Minnesota and possess a dynamic pricing schedule. Tolls charged to single occupancy vehicles (SOVs) are adjusted every three minutes according to HOT lane vehicle density. Given the infancy of systems like MnPASS, questions remain about drivers' responses to toll prices. Three field experiments were conducted on the corridors during which prices were changed. Data from the field experiments as well as two years of toll and traffic data were analyzed to measure driver responses to pricing changes. Driver elasticity to price was positive with magnitudes less than 1.0. This positive relationship between price and demand is in contrast with the previously held belief that raising the price would discourage demand. In addition, drivers consistently paid between approximately \$60-120 per hour of travel time savings, much higher than the average value of time. Four alternative pricing strategies are then proposed and calibrated. These pricing strategies are tested using a HOT lane choice model based on previous research. Adjusting parameters of the pricing strategies altered the resulting HOT lane share. Measuring the changes in HOT demand against the changes in price led to similar positive elasticity results.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Minnesota Value Pricing Outreach and Education
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2006-10) Munnich, Lee Jr; Patterson, Tyler
    The State and Local Policy Program (SLPP) of the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) and the Metropolitan Council originally designed a project that envisioned extensive research, outreach, and education activities leading to identification and support for a demonstration project by the end of the three year project period. With early acceptance and support for the I-394 MnPASS project by the Governor and Legislature, the Humphrey Institute in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration revised the project to focus on research, outreach, and education activities focused specifically on the I-394 MnPASS project. The major findings of this project are detailed in the summary and supported by the appendices. The appendices include multiple papers submitted to the Transportation Research Board, final reports from the first two waves of the longitudinal panel survey, the community task force report, and an information booklet designed to quickly educate lawmakers.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Value of reliability: actual commute experience revealed preference approach.
    (2010-07) Carrion, Carlos
    This research investigates the value placed by travelers on HOT lanes because of improvements in travel time reliability. This value depends on how the travelers regard a route with predictable travel times (or small travel time variability) in comparison to another with unpredictable travel times (or high travel time variability). For this purpose, commuters were recruited and equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS) devices and instructed to commute for two weeks on each of three plausible alternatives between their home in the western suburbs of Minneapolis eastbound to work in downtown or the University of Minnesota: I-394 HOT lanes, I-394 General Purpose lanes (untolled), and signalized arterials close to the I-394 corridor. They were then given the opportunity to travel on their preferred route after experiencing each alternative. This revealed preference data was then analyzed using mixed logit route choice models. Three measures of reliability were explored and incorporated in the estimation of the models: standard deviation (a classical measure in the research literature); shortened right range (typically found in departure time choice models); and interquartile range (75th - 25th percentile). Each of these measures represents distinct ways about how travelers deal with different sections of reliability. In all the models, it was found that reliability was valued highly (and statistically significantly), but differently according to how it was defined. The estimated value of reliability in each of the models indicates that commuters are willing to pay a fee for a reliable route depending on how they value their reliability savings. Furthermore, a meta-analysis is performed in order to explain the differences across valuation ratio estimates across studies. The results indicate differences are significant across regions, choice dimension (e.g. mode choice), travel time unit (e.g. data collected at AM or PM), and year of study.