The congestion multiplier: Variations in motorists' valuations of travel time with traffic conditions

The value of travel time savings in part depends upon the disutility of the travel time that is saved and partly on the use to which the time saved is put. It has long been recognised that the disutility of the time spent travelling also depends upon a wide range of factors such as the journey length or the effort, comfort and safety associated with travelling. Hence we might expect the value of motorists’ travel time to vary with the traffic conditions as represented by the degree of congestion, in part to reflect the more difficult driving environment when there are more vehicles, but also a higher sense of frustration, similar to that associated with waiting time and contributing to its premium valuation. In this context, and despite the predominance of car travel in developed countries, the empirical evidence specifically relating to car values of travel time tends to fail to distinguish between different types of time according to the degree of congestion. Thus we are often left unclear as to precisely what type of time has been valued. Moreover, when a distinction is made, it tends to be into a simple dichotomy of congested and uncongested traffic. This paper provides new evidence on the variation in the valuation of motorists’ travel time savings across a finer gradation of types of time than has been hitherto attempted. This is obtained from the same Stated Choice exercise conducted in the United Kingdom and the United States. The paper also provides an extensive account of previous research into how congestion impacts on motorists’ values of time.

• Record URL:
  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856411001042
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/09658564
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission from Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Wardman, Mark
  • Ibanez, J Nicolas
• Publication Date: 2012-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Appendices; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 213-225
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice
  • Volume: 46
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0965-8564
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09658564

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Drivers; Meta-analysis; Stated preferences; Traffic characteristics; Traffic congestion; Travel time; Travelers; Value of time
• Uncontrolled Terms: Driver preferences; Stated choice; Traffic conditions
• Geographic Terms: United Kingdom; United States
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01359046
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: Dec 16 2011 2:48PM