Trade-Off for Road Pricing between Transportation Performance and Financial Feasibility

Abstract

This study estimates the transportation performance and financial impacts of express toll (ET) lane and high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane concepts, with and without new bus rapid transit (BRT) service. Estimates are made for a prototypical suburban transportation corridor in a major metropolitan area with the use of the Spreadsheet Model for Induced Travel Estimation, Managed Lanes (SMITE-ML), which was enhanced to analyze the conventional build concept with no priced lanes. The analysis demonstrates that in a typical case a HOT alternative may mitigate congestion more cost-effectively than an ET alternative. Combining BRT with ET may make this alternative much more effective, perhaps more effective than a HOT alternative with no BRT. BRT increases the benefits and economic efficiency of both ET and HOT alternatives, but it reduces financial feasibility because of the need for public tax support for transit. ET alternatives tend to be more financially feasible than HOT alternatives primarily because of the additional revenues generated from tolls; under this alternative, HOVs are not exempt from tolls. These conclusions hold up for the case study corridor even under extreme assumptions with regard to demand elasticity and value of time.