STUDIES IN THE ECONOMICS OF TRANSPORTATION

THE CAPABILITIES AND EFFICIENT OPERATION OF SEVERAL TYPES OF TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS ARE STUDIED. FOR HIGHWAY TRAFFIC THE MAIN EMPHASIS IS ON CONGESTION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. QUEUING MODELS ARE USED TO DETERMINE FLUCTUATIONS IN WAITING TIME FOR TWO CASES, THE FLOW OF CARS THROUGH AN INTERSECTION AND THE PASSING OF SLOWER CARS BY FASTER CARS ON A TWO-LANE HIGHWAY. THE RESULTS OF THESE STUDIES ARE INCORPORATED INTO A NON-LINEAR MODEL OF HIGHWAY TRAFFIC BEHAVIOR ON A ROAD NETWORK. THE CAPACITIES ARE EXPRESSED BY THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRAFFIC FLOWS ON ALL ROUTES AND THE COSTS ENCOUNTERED ON EACH AS A RESULT OF THESE FLOWS. HIGHWAY TRAFFIC DEMANDS ARE THE RESULT OF A GREAT MANY INDIVIDUAL DECISIONS ABOUT DESTINATION, ROUTES, AND PREFERRED SPEEDS. THE ANALOGY BETWEEN HIGHWAY TRAFFIC EQUILIBRIUM AND THE MARKET RESPONSE MODELS USED BY ECONOMISTS IS GIVEN. IF THE INDIVIDUALLY INCURRED COST OF TRANSPORTATION IS REGARDED AS THE "PRICE" IN THE TRANSPORTATION "MARKET," THE ECONOMIST'S DEMAND CURVE BECOMES APPLICABLE. FOR A SINGLE ROAD IT GIVES THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC DEMANDED FOR ANY GIVEN COST ENCOUNTERED ON THAT ROAD. GENERALLY, THE HIGHER THE COST, THE SMALLER THE FLOW. CONSIDERING A ROAD NETWORK THE DEMAND FUNCTION GIVES THE FLOWS ON EACH ROUTE IN RESPONSE TO A SET OF TRANSPORTATION COSTS ALONG THESE ROUTES. EQUILIBRIUM EXISTS IF THE FLOWS ON ALL ROADS RESULTING FROM THESE COSTS ARE THE SAME AS THE FLOWS THAT PRODUCE THESE SAME COSTS. THIS CONCEPT IS APPLIED TO A STUDY OF TRAFFIC EQUILIBRIUM AND USE OF THE ANALYSIS IN THE PREDICTION OF TRAFFIC FLOWS IS DISCUSSED. THE ANALYSIS OF DEMAND AND OF EQUILIBRIUM RECOGNIZES THAT FREEDOM OF CHOICE IS PART OF THE SERVICE RENDERED BY THE ROAD NETWORK. TOLLS FROM THE USERS OF CONGESTED ROADS AT RATES THAT WOULD MEASURE THE COST TO OTHERS CAUSED BY THE AVERAGE ROAD USER WOULD ENCOURAGE BETTER USE OF THE HIGHWAY SYSTEM. THERE ARE OBSERVATIONS ON HOW CLOSELY MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY CAN BE APPROACHED BY PROPER CHOICE OF RATES ON PRESENT TOLL ROADS AND BY OTHER WAYS OF PENALIZING ADDITIONS TO TRAFFIC CONGESTION. BECAUSE OF THE NONLINEAR RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN USE AND COST, SUCH PRICING DOES NOT NECESSARILY PRODUCE REVENUES EQUAL TO THE TOTAL COST OF OPERATING AND FINANCING THE INDIVIDUAL FACILITY. SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE QUESTION OF CRITERIA FOR EXTENSIONS OR IMPROVEMENTS OF THE NETWORK TO RELIEVE CONGESTION ARE GIVEN. /AUTHOR/

• Corporate Authors:

  YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS

  NEW HAVEN,
  ,    
• Authors:
  • Beckmann, M
  • McGuire, C B
  • Winsten, C B
• Publication Date: 1956

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Costs; Economics; Highway capacity; Mathematical models; Operating costs; Passing; Systems analysis; Tolls; Traffic congestion; Traffic delays; Traffic flow; Transportation
• Uncontrolled Terms: Models
• Old TRIS Terms: Transportation system analysis
• Subject Areas: Economics; Society; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00201410
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 226 pp
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 26 1970 12:00AM