Evaluating congestion pricing schemes using agent-based passenger and freight microsimulation

Peiyu Jing, Ravi Seshadri*, Takanori Sakai, Ali Shamshiripour, Andre Romano Alho, Antonios Lentzakis, Moshe E. Ben-Akiva

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

52 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The distributional impacts of congestion pricing have been widely discussed in the literature and the evidence on this is mixed. Some studies find that pricing is regressive whereas others suggest that it can be progressive or neutral depending on the specific spatial characteristics of the urban region, existing activity and travel patterns, and the design of the pricing scheme. Moreover, the welfare and distributional impacts of pricing have largely been studied in the context of passenger travel whereas freight has received relatively less attention. In this paper, we examine the impacts of several congestion pricing schemes on both passenger transport and freight in an integrated manner using a large-scale microsimulator (SimMobility) that explicitly simulates the behavioral decisions of the entire population of individuals and business establishments, dynamic multimodal network performance, and their interactions. Through simulations of a prototypical North American city, we find that a distance-based pricing scheme yields larger welfare gains than an area-based scheme, although the gains are a modest fraction of toll revenues (around 30%). In the absence of revenue recycling or redistribution, distance-based and cordon-based schemes are found to be particularly regressive. On average, lower income individuals lose as a result of the scheme, whereas higher income individuals gain. A similar trend is observed in the context of shippers — small establishments having lower shipment values lose on average whereas larger establishments with higher shipment values gain. We perform a detailed spatial analysis of distributional outcomes, and examine the impacts on network performance, activity generation, mode and departure time choices, and logistics operations.

Original languageEnglish
Article number104118
JournalTransportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice
Volume186
ISSN0965-8564
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Keywords

  • Congestion pricing
  • Demand management
  • Equity
  • Simulation
  • Traffic management
  • Urban freight

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Evaluating congestion pricing schemes using agent-based passenger and freight microsimulation'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this