Estimating Value of Travel Time Savings by Using Large-Scale Household Survey Data from Japan

Abstract

Expressways provide road users with reduced travel time and safer driving conditions for a toll. The toll charge has been one of the most important issues in expressway planning. The user's willingness to pay for saving travel time by using an expressway service is one of the most important factors in examining toll charges for expressways. A large Japanese database was used to empirically estimate road users' value of travel time savings (VTTS). The results showed that the estimated VTTS of business travel was nearly equal to or a little lower than the average wage rate in Japan, whereas the estimated VTTS of home-to-workplace and private travels was lower than the estimated VTTS of business travel. VTTS increased with the trip length. The estimated VTTS from 07:00 to 09:59 was higher than during other periods. The estimated VTTS of individuals in their 20s and in their 60s was lower than that of individuals in other age groups. The estimated VTTS of men was a little higher than that of women. The estimated VTTS per vehicle when a person was driving alone was higher than the estimated VTTS per vehicle when a driver has passengers. The estimated VTTS of production and transport workers was lower than the estimated VTTS of people in other jobs. A toll charge should reflect the VTTS of road users, so policy implications for the charge were examined.