Regional Study of Value Pricing in the Dallas-Fort Worth Region, Texas

Abstract

The Dallas–Fort Worth region, Texas, is one of the most congested urban areas in the United States. As the region has experienced unprecedented growth in population and business activity, traffic congestion and delay have continued to worsen. With additional vehicles on the region's freeways and a shortage of land and resources required to build more roads, the region's transportation leaders adopted a progressive approach to managing the increasing congestion—by applying value pricing to operate the transportation system more efficiently. The region's metropolitan planning organization, the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), was awarded a grant from FHWA to study a regional approach to value pricing. URS Corporation worked with NCTCOG and its partners, the Texas Department of Transportation, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, North Texas Tollway Authority, Denton County Transportation Authority, Fort Worth Transportation Authority, and Texas Transportation Institute, to undertake the only major regional investigation of value pricing in the country. The study included review of a broad range of value pricing concepts and information from other projects to establish the most appropriate screening criteria for this region. The screening criteria were applied to all existing and planned freeways, tollways, and HOV facilities to identify those corridors showing the highest potential for immediate action. The study, which was completed in July 2005, resulted in the following products: (a) regional guidelines for implementing value pricing, (b) recommendation for a demonstration project (IH-30), and (c) a long-term mechanism for incorporating value pricing in the highway development process.