SCHEDULE DELAY AND DEPARTURE TIME DECISIONS WITH HETEROGENEOUS COMMUTERS

The dynamics of morning rush-hour traffic congestion have been studied extensively in recent years. In most theoretical work, however, commuters are assumed to have identical travel cost functions and to face the same arrival-time constraints at work. In this paper, we allow commuters to differ in their travel time costs, their starting time at work, and the costs incurred from early and late arrival. Early in the rush hour, the departure rate exceeds road capacity, causing a queue to develop. Commuters order themselves systematically in the departure sequence to minimize their individual travel costs. The order in which different groups depart is not necessarily efficient. A time-varying congestion toll can be constructed to eliminate queueing and induce the optimal order of departure. Travel-cost savings from such congestion tolls and from road capacity investments are computed. Estimated benefits are generally biased if computed using average travel-cost parameters and average work start times rather than actual distributions. Savings tend to be overestimated if commuters differ primarily in travel costs, but can be underestimated for capacity investments when commuters differ primarily in starting times at work.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1988/1197/1197-007.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=SCHEDULE+DELAY+AND+DEPARTURE+TIME+DECISIONS+WITH+HETEROGENEOUS+COMMUTERS&author=R.+Arnott&author=A.+de+Palma&author=R.+Lindsey&publication_year=1988
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1197, Transportation Finance and Economic Analysis Issues. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Arnott, Richard
  • de Palma, Andre
  • Lindsey, Robin
• Publication Date: 1988

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 56-67
• Monograph Title: Transportation finance and economic analysis issues
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1197
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Commuters; Congestion pricing; Departure time; Hours of labor; Optimization; Peak hour traffic; Queuing; Savings; Schedules; Traffic congestion; Travel budgets; Travel costs
• Uncontrolled Terms: Arrival time
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Passenger Transportation; Society; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00489550
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309047668
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Nov 30 1989 12:00AM