METHOD OF OBTAINING CONSUMER WELFARE FROM REGIONAL TRAVEL DEMAND MODELS

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

1998

Subject Area

infrastructure - vehicle, infrastructure - bus/tram priority, infrastructure - bus/tram lane, land use - planning, ridership - mode choice, ridership - demand, economics - pricing, mode - rail, mode - tram/light rail, mode - carpool

Keywords

Welfare, Value pricing (Road pricing), Travel models (Travel demand), Travel demand, Transportation policy, Transportation planning, Sacramento (California), Road pricing, Regional transportation, Priority lanes, Mode choice, Modal choice, Light rail transit, Intrastate transportation, HOV lanes, High occupancy vehicle lanes, Economic efficiency, Diamond lanes, Demand, Consumers, Choice of transportation, Carpool lanes

Abstract

The need for more comprehensive traveler welfare measures is highlighted by the U.S. Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (1991) requirement that transportation projects and plans be evaluated for economic efficiency. However, to date, there has been a discrepancy between this requirement and the methods used by regional transportation organizations to evaluate transportation policies in the United States. Kenneth Small and Harvey Rosen illustrate how a consumer welfare measure known as compensating variation can be obtained from discrete choice models. A method of application is developed for the mode choice models in the Sacramento Regional Travel Demand Model. The results of the method's application to the model for light rail transit, high-occupancy vehicle lanes, and auto pricing scenarios are examined for both total consumer welfare and consumer welfare by income class.

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