Cordon Pricing Research Articles

An Impact Assessment of Cordon Pricing Relaxation on Modal Shift During the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic brought significant disruptions to transportation patterns worldwide, with a notable increase in Private Vehicle (PV) usage. Many studies have focused on travel restrictions, while neglecting to consider potential changes in transportation-related policies implemented during COVID-19 that may have improved public health. The present study explores the motivations for modal shifts to PVs and tries to analyze which of the risks of exposure and modifications in transportation policies has caused these modifications. Focusing on the case study of Tehran, Iran, where cordon pricing was relaxed during the pandemic, the study collected data through online and paper-based surveys from 1475 respondents. Binary logit models were employed to analyze the data and understand the impact of destination location, residency area, trip purpose, trip frequency, and vehicle characteristics on modal shift behavior. In addition to COVID-19 exposure as a primary reason for the modal shift, respondents also identified the relaxation of cordon pricing restrictions as a factor that increased the utility of PVs. The study's findings contribute to better understanding the dynamics of travel behavior during pandemics, guiding policymakers in devising effective strategies to address both public health concerns and traffic conditions.

Acceptability of transportation demand management policy packages considering interactions and socio-economic heterogeneity

The Transportation Demand Management (TDM) policies will not be authorized if they have not enough public acceptability. In this study, policy packing is proposed as a way to alleviate the unacceptability of coercive (push) TDM policies that have considerable effectiveness (e.g., cordon and parking pricing) by using some non-coercive (pull) TDM policies (e.g., transit development). Furthermore, in addition to the main effects, the interaction effects of TDM policies on the acceptability of two policy packages are addressed. Policy package (I) includes cordon pricing and reduction of transit access time, and Policy package (II) contains parking pricing and reduction of transit access time. A Random Parameter Ordered Logit (RPOL) model is developed based on a choice experiment designed for car commuters of Tehran, Iran. Results confirm that while reducing transit access time have a significant interaction effect with cordon pricing on the acceptability of Package (I) it has not a significant interaction effect with parking pricing on the acceptability of Package (II). Furthermore, the heterogeneity of respondents' cars value and the presence of free parking at the workplace can significantly affect the acceptability of Package (II). This study also addresses the effect of respondents’ trip and socio-economic characteristics on the acceptability.

Transportation demand management policy efficiency: An attempt to address the effectiveness and acceptability of policy packages

As private car usage has negative effects, such as traffic congestion and air pollution, the effectiveness of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) policies could be considered as any reduction in car usage. However, the efficiency of TDM policies could be addressed by a combination of their effectiveness and public acceptability. Policy packaging is treated as a way to get more benefits from a set of policies in form of a package. Therefore, to improve the efficiency of a package containing a push TDM policy, which is usually effective but not acceptable, introducing a pull policy that is generally acceptable could be of interest. This research aimed to evaluate the efficiency of two packages of TDM policies containing a push policy (either cordon or parking pricing) and a pull policy (transit system development). Therefore, 535 working-purpose car commuters were interviewed to examine the trade-offs between the acceptability and effectiveness of each package. According to the results, although the transit development policy causes a 1.52% reduction in car usage, it significantly affects the acceptability of cordon pricing and transit development package. Finally, a discussion is provided regarding how to use the policy packages to achieve the highest potential effectiveness at a specific level of acceptability.

What is the potential of hybrid cordon pricing policy for reducing and shifting car usage in cities?

As cities need to urgently transition out of unsustainable mobility systems, following the Avoid-Shift-Improve framework, changes in travel behavior have a top priority. Although behavior change in is a complex phenomenon, previous research informs us about the importance of urban road-usage policy measures. One such policy measure is often referred to as congestion pricing (CP). Some cities have successfully implemented CP, showing its effectiveness potential in behavior change, but wide-spread implementation lags due to challenges in societal, organizational, and political acceptance and implementability. Emerging literature on mobility credits (MC), mostly based on experiments, has brought forward the questions of acceptance, showing different possibilities for credit allocation, accumulation and exchange. In addition to behavior change, cities in transition economies might also consider monetary policies as potential solutions to financing issues. This research aims to analyze benefits and challenges of implementing a hybrid scheme that is a combination of CP and MC, developed with an expectation for policy coherence and complementarity. To determine the effects of the proposed hybrid scheme, a comparative analysis of user attitudes on congestion charging was conducted. The research was conducted using an online questionnaire, and the target group consisted of the residents of Belgrade (Serbia). Since these strategies are not implemented in Belgrade, the stated choice approach was used. The survey contained questions about the socio-demographic characteristics of the users, trip characteristics, users’ acceptability of CP and the hybrid scheme, as well as the questions on transport mode usage for commuting trips and for trips with other purposes. Based on statistical and policy analysis, it was determined that the hybrid scheme represents a suitable compromise solution which would reduce passenger car trips in the city center and while increase public acceptance for such normative policies.

Quasi revenue-neutral congestion pricing in cities: Crediting drivers to avoid city centers

This paper introduces a predictive congestion pricing method in cities wherein the tolls alter from region to region. We consider a large urban network is partitioned into multiple regions each with a well-defined Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram (MFD) where multiple routes exist between each origin and destination regions. The proposed cordon pricing method is designed to (i) minimize vehicles’ total time spent in the network and (ii) aim for a revenue-neutral tolling. A controller based on model predictive control (MPC) approach is proposed to determine the (possibly negative) optimal time- and region-varying tolls. The MPC controller comprises a regional MFD-based traffic model with no need of destination information and a long-short term memory neural network (LSTM-NN) to obtain an accurate estimation of inter-region transfer flows. Results of numerical experiments indicate the effectiveness of the proposed congestion pricing method to achieve the two objectives simultaneously, compared with No toll and reactive feedback controllers.

A game theoretic approach to study the impact of transportation policies on the competition between transit and private car in the urban context

This paper proposes a spatial gaming model to characterize the mode choice behavior of travelers on a corridor connecting a suburban neighborhood to the central business district. Previous game theoretic studies typically incorporate a discrete choice model into the gaming structure to observe travelers’ mode choice behavior. The novelty of the proposed model revolves around incorporating parking operator into the gaming structure. We also present a model extension accounting for the heterogeneity in travelers’ income. The parking operator and transit agency, as the two players of the game, seek to obtain a greater market share by controlling their prices. The nature of the transit agency as a (pseudo) public authority is modeled by letting the player maximize a weighted sum of profit and consumer surplus. The private parking operator, on the other hand, is a profit maximizer. With the out-of-pocket cost, generalized travel time, and disutilities other than time in the utility function of travelers, this gaming model enable us to evaluate the impact on auto-transit competition of a wide range of urban policies. A corridor in Isfahan, Iran is considered to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed model. Eight travel demand management policies are examined. We see that restrictive policies (e.g., cordon pricing) typically reduce the total demand while encouraging policies (e.g., improving transit access time by integrating transit with a bike-sharing system) increase it. The most effective policies are found to be hybrid policies such as increasing auto travel time coupled with lowering transit in-vehicle travel time.

New York City cordon pricing and its impacts on disparity, transit accessibility, air quality, and health

Despite recognized positive congestion and environmental impacts, cordon pricing has sometimes been criticized from a social equity perspective. This paper examines the impact of cordon pricing on three key equity indicators in New York City: traffic, public transportation access, and environmental concerns. The share of congested links, accessibility to the subway, and the population-weighted mean exposure to PM2.5 emissions are among the metrics used to measure equity indices. We show that implementing cordon pricing in Manhattan’s Central Business District (CBD) would considerably improve traffic, and environmental metrics for the population inside the cordon area with no significant changes in other boroughs. The CBD will experience a reduction of congested links between 2.1% and 3.6% and a reduction of PM2.5 concentration of 18%. In terms of accessibility to the subway, cordon pricing would mostly affect the non-Hispanic population as well as residents of Queens. The rates of reduction in the average emissions exposure to PM2.5 will vary across racial groups. The pricing strategies will disproportionately help to reduce the negative health outcomes of exposure to traffic related air pollution of residents of Manhattan’s CBD.

Modeling traffic dynamics in periphery-downtown urban networks combining Vickrey's theory with Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram: user equilibrium, system optimum, and cordon pricing

This paper constructs a dynamic model for a periphery-downtown urban network combining Vickrey's theory with Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram (MFD) to capture interactions between the peripheral traffic and the downtown, and to examine how travelers on different corridors compete for the downtown road resources in the context of dynamic user equilibrium. In no-toll equilibrium if existing, when there exists no congestion delay in the downtown area, the departures for each corridor are regulated only by its bottleneck's capacity on the periphery of the downtown area, as occurred in Vickrey's bottleneck model, whereas when the downtown accumulation goes beyond the critical value, the departures for each corridor are constrained not only by its bottleneck's capacity but also by the downtown congestion level, regulated by all corridors’ departures in turn. We show that under specific assumptions, at the system optimum, the entrances at the boundary of the downtown area should be running at their full capacities before the onset of the downtown congestion, and the downtown network should be operating upon the onset of the downtown congestion at the critical accumulation with maximum production and highest traveling speed. Two optimal time-varying cordon pricing schemes (entrance-independent and entrance-dependent respectively) are developed to minimize the total social cost, which includes the queuing time costs concerning all corridors, the moving time cost in the interior of the downtown area, and schedule delay cost. What's more, the two time-varying cordon tolls to support the system optimum are analyzed from practical views. In the end, analytical results are illustrated and verified with numerical experiments.

Cordon Pricing, Daily Activity Pattern, and Exposure to Traffic-Related Air Pollution: A Case Study of New York City

Road pricing is advocated as an effective travel demand management strategy to alleviate traffic congestion and improve environmental conditions. This paper analyzes the impacts of cordon pricing on the population’s daily activity pattern and their exposure to particulate matter by integrating activity-based models with air quality and exposure models in the case of New York City. To estimate changes in public exposure under cordon pricing scenarios, we take a sample of employees and study their mobility behavior during the day, which is mainly attributed to the location of the work and the time spent at work. The selection of employees and their exposure during the duration of their work is due to the unavailability of exact activity patterns for each individual. We show that the Central Business District (CBD) experiences a high concentration of PM2.5 emissions. Results indicate that implementing cordon pricing scenarios can reduce the population-weighted mean of exposure to PM2.5 emissions by 7% to 13% for our sample and, in particular, by 22% to 28% for those who work in the CBD. Furthermore, using an experimental model and assuming constant conditions, we point out the positive influence on indoor exposure for two locations inside and outside the CBD in response to cordon pricing. Considering the correlation between long-term exposure to fine particulate matter and the risks of developing cardiovascular disease and lung cancer, our findings suggest that improved public health conditions could be provided by implementing cordon pricing in the New York City CBD.

A Model for Cordon Pricing Scheme Considering Spatial Equity

A Model for Cordon Pricing Scheme Considering Spatial Equity

The effects of road pricing on transportation and health equity: a scoping review

ABSTRACT Road pricing is increasingly considered as an option to support transportation infrastructure costs, manage demand, and reduce emissions. However, the extent to which implementation of such approaches may impact transportation and health equity is unclear. In this scoping review, we examine the differential transportation and health effects of road pricing policies across population groups and geographic region. We conducted a systematic database search of Transport Research International Documentation, GEOBASE, Scopus, and Ovid Medline, supplemented by bibliographic review and internet searches. Fifteen studies were included in the review. The studies evaluated area and cordon road pricing systems in Singapore, London, Stockholm, Milan, and Gothenburg, and had a median follow-up period of 12 months. Outcomes evaluated include car commuting, mode shift to public transit, accessibility to destinations, affordability, welfare, social interactions, air pollution, traffic injuries and deaths, acute asthma attacks, and life expectancy. While more studies across diverse urban contexts and policy settings will be needed to strengthen the evidence base, the existing evidence suggests road pricing has mostly net positive effects related to a reduction in car trips, air pollution, asthma attacks, and road traffic collisions, and increases in life expectancy. Frequency and ease of social interactions were found to be negatively impacted, with fewer visits to family and friends. The population groups that generally fared better across transportation and health outcomes were those with higher incomes, men, and people between the ages of 35–55. Across space, there are benefits for both the areas inside and outside the cordon boundary, but to a greater degree for the area inside. Overall, the evidence base is limited by a narrow set of health-related outcomes and a lack of longer-term studies. We did not come across any studies assessing distributional effects of noise pollution, mode shifts to walking or cycling, or other morbidities in the general population that are not listed above. In addition, there are few evaluations that include non-work trips, therefore potentially missing effects for unemployed populations or women who are more likely to make non-work trips. We find that the limited body of evidence on area and cordon pricing policies suggests these policies are beneficial for a number of transportation and health outcomes, particularly for populations inside the cordon area, but that there may be some degree of inequities in the distribution of the benefits and burdens.

Cordon Pricing Scheme Based on Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram and Distance

To alleviate traffic congestion in key areas, such as city centers, this study proposes an optimal pricing strategy that is based on the distance that users travel in a given cordon. The proposed strategy is derived from the theory of the macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD). In this strategy, a non-negative, nondecreasing, and nonlinear distance-toll function is defined by a piecewise linear approximation method. A bilevel programming model is then constructed on the basis of the toll charge function and the characteristics of the MFD. The upper model considers the overall operating efficiency of the system and aims to maximize the outflow of the road network. The lower model assumes that user route choice behavior complies with Wardrop’s first principle to formulate a user equilibrium model under a fixed demand. In view of the nonadditive property of path cost imposed by the nonlinear distance-toll function, the network transformation technique is used to realize the conversion between real networks and virtual networks. The Frank-Wolfe algorithm based on road segments is then used to solve the lower model. The verification of the reasonable feasibility of the pricing model and algorithm reveals that the implementation of cordon pricing schemes based on distance can make the outflow of the border area maintain the best level. Moreover, the obtained optimal charge function makes the system run efficiently. These results prove that the nonlinear optimal toll charge function is realistic and effective.

Congestion Pricing of Urban Street Segments along with MRT Route—The Case Study of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital, already has a congestion problem to handle the ever-growing demand for traffic. The usage of private cars cannot be stopped by charging and the town is not encouraged by quality public transport. It is impossible to enforce congestion prices here in line with traditional cordon pricing systems since the region uses unusual land patterns. However, the current project Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line 6, which will be built by 2021, provides the prospect of congestion pricing. A price and optimum approach were established for this article. The congestion price is only payable for the segments and is accessible for private cars under this system. Two urban street segments along the MRT route were selected for the study and congestion toll for a private car is estimated for each segment separately. The sum of the toll in monetary terms is determined using certain associated parameters from the discrepancy from the actual Level of Service (LOS) travel time and traffic flow to the desired LOS. The outcome has shown that the price per passenger car is $0.3 - $0.44. The price is flexible, which means it will vary based on traffic volume. The findings for politicians to enforce congestion pricing are viewed as recommendations.

Planning for Congestion Pricing Policies in the Middle East: Public Acceptability and Revenue Distribution

ABSTRACT This study considered two types of congestion pricing, high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes and cordon pricing, and the factors influencing their public acceptability if they are to be implemented in Abu Dhabi city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A revealed preference (RP) and stated preference (SP) surveys were conducted in the city to collect data. The public acceptability was analyzed based on respondents’ willingness to pay (WTP) a toll or cordon fee to circumvent congestion. Furthermore, the distribution of the generated revenue was analyzed as an additional indicator of public acceptability. The results indicated that trip conditions (travel speed, travel distance, and trip urgency); respondents’ age, income, employment status, and car ownership; and toll fees are significant factors in determining public acceptability of HOT lanes, while respondents’ average monthly income, age, employment status, car ownership, and saving in travel time are significant factors of determining public acceptability of cordon pricing.

Spatial/temporal variability in transportation emissions and air quality in NYC cordon pricing

Understanding the temporal and spatial variation of air quality (AQ) impact due to congestion pricing is important since the health and economic benefits of air quality improvements depend on the distribution of traffic-related air pollution. Aiming to improve our knowledge of the AQ impacts from congestion pricing, this study integrates a disaggregate agent-based travel demand model with a hyper-local air quality model to examine emissions, air quality, and exposure. Studying congestion pricing schemes in NYC, we find that daily single-occupancy-vehicle trips to the charging area decreases by 14.5% and 24.3% under the low and high charging schemes, respectively. Correspondingly, the PM2.5 concentration decreases by 5–25% in the Central Manhattan areas in the low-toll scenario, and by more than 10% across almost all of New York City areas in the high-toll scenario. Our results indicate non-linear relations between the adaptation of travel behavior and the resulting air quality/exposure impacts.

Predictive cordon pricing to reduce air pollution

Traffic is a major contributor to emissions in many large cities with severe air pollution. Experience in London, Milan, and Stockholm shows that charging for the use of roads can be effective in reducing emissions, as well as congestion. This study examines the use of predictive cordon tolls based on weather forecasts to reduce ambient air pollution and congestion. Travelers choose their destinations inside or outside the cordon, and whether to drive or take public transport. Passenger vehicles are divided into three classes according to their emission characteristics, and higher tolls are imposed on more polluting vehicles. The Box model of emission dispersion is used to predict air quality. A Markov decision-making process then determines daily toll levels with the objective of maximizing welfare measured by travelers’ surplus, toll revenue, and air pollution health costs. The model is applied to a hypothetical network using recorded weather data for Tehran in 2016. With base-case parameter values, predictive pricing reduces the daily average CO concentration as well as the number of days with dangerous air quality. Predictive pricing yields a higher welfare gain than a fixed toll (i.e., the same every day regardless of weather conditions). The effects of weather information, wind forecast accuracy, forecast time horizon, values of travel time, destination attractions, and road link capacity on the benefits from predictive pricing are analyzed. The performance of the model under randomized weather conditions is also assessed.

Evaluating the Traffic and Emissions Impacts of Congestion Pricing in New York City

Traffic congestion is a major challenge in metropolitan areas due to economic and negative health impacts. Several strategies have been tested all around the globe to relieve traffic congestion and minimize transportation externalities. Congestion pricing is among the most cited strategies with the potential to manage the travel demand. This study aims to investigate potential travel behavior changes in response to cordon pricing in Manhattan, New York. Several pricing schemes with variable cordon charging fees are designed and examined using an activity-based microsimulation travel demand model. The findings demonstrate a decreasing trend in the total number of trips interacting with the central business district (CBD) as the price goes up, except for intrazonal trips. We also analyze a set of other performance measures, such as Vehicle-Hours of Delay, Vehicle-Miles Traveled, and vehicle emissions. While the results show considerable growth in transit ridership (6%), single-occupant vehicles and taxis trips destined to the CBD reduced by 30% and 40%, respectively, under the $20 pricing scheme. The aggregated value of delay for all vehicles was also reduced by 32%. Our findings suggest that cordon pricing can positively ameliorate transportation network performance and consequently, improve air quality by reducing particular matter inventory by up to 17.5%. The results might facilitate public acceptance of cordon pricing strategies for the case study of NYC. More broadly, this study provides a robust framework for decision-makers across the US for further analysis on the subject.

Travel management optimization based on air pollution condition using Markov decision process and genetic algorithm (case study: Shiraz city)

Currently, air pollution and energy consumption are the main issues in the transportation area in large urban cities. In these cities, most people choose their transportation mode according to corresponding utility including traveller's and trip’s characteristics. Also, there is no effective solution in terms of population growth, urban space, and transportation demands, so it is essential to optimize systematically travel demands in the real network of roads in urban areas, especially in congested areas. Travel Demand Management (TDM) is one of the well-known ways to solve these problems. TDM defined as a strategy that aims to maximize the efficiency of the urban transport system by granting certain privileges for public transportation modes, Enforcement on the private car traffic prohibition in specific places or times, increase in the cost of using certain facilities like parking in congested areas. Network pricing is one of the most effective methods of managing transportation demands for reducing traffic and controlling air pollution especially in the crowded parts of downtown. A little paper may exist that optimize urban transportations in busy parts of cities with combined Markov decision making processes with reward and evolutionary-based algorithms and simultaneously considering customers’ and trip’s characteristics. Therefore, we present a new network traffic management for urban cities that optimizes a multi-objective function that related to the expected value of the Markov decision system’s reward using the Genetic Algorithm. The planned Shiraz city is taken as a benchmark for evaluating the performance of the proposed approach. At first, an analysis is also performed on the impact of the toll levels on the variation of the user and operator cost components, respectively. After choosing suitable values for the network parameters, simulation of the Markov decision process and GA is dynamically performed, then the optimal decision for the Markov decision process in terms of total reward is obtained. The results illustrate that the proposed cordon pricing has significant improvement in performance for all seasons including spring, autumn, and winter.

Implications of different road pricing schemes in urban areas: a case study for Budapest

Road pricing is an efficient instrument to regulate use of roads. In Budapest, Hungary, only cordon pricing has been investigated in detail. This paper reports on a study of the implications of applying different road pricing schemes in the city using a macroscopic traffic model. Firstly, the functional relationship between pricing schemes and road transport demand was investigated. Secondly, the implications of applying road pricing schemes on travel demand, travel time, delay time, average speed and carbon dioxide emissions of road users inside and outside of the pricing area, as well as revenues generated by applying the schemes, were studied. The results revealed that a time-based system showed the best performance inside the pricing area. However, it generated heavy congestion on non-priced roads bordering the pricing area, which would increase travel times, delay times and carbon dioxide emissions and would decrease average travel speeds on the entire network. The cordon-based system was the least effective pricing system for most of the studied parameters, while the distance-based system showed good performance both inside and outside the pricing area. Regarding the revenues generated, variable-toll systems (time-based and distance-based systems) showed the potential to generate higher revenues than the fixed-toll system (cordon-based system).

Macro-Scale Evaluation of Urban Transportation Demand Management Policies in CBD by Using System Dynamics Case Study: Isfahan CBD

Nowadays, in modern cities, travel demand management policies are more effective solutions for reducing vehicle traffic than road construction and private transportation infrastructure development. Traditional transportation planning methods that are appropriate for a partial analysis in traffic area zone levels require extensive data collection and only could be used to evaluate and compare a few number of demand management policies with limited criteria. In this paper, system dynamics modelling has been used to evaluate transport demand management policies. System dynamics is a suitable method for long-term macro-scale evaluations of different policies with various indicators, because in this method, causal relationships between variables and their feedbacks are considered as well as its dynamic approach, not needing detailed information in traffic area zones (TAZ) level, and the possibility of evaluating different policies. In this research, encouraging policies like improving the bus and taxi services, completing metro network development, improving bicycle facilities and encouraging to carpool as well as restrictive policies like cordon pricing policies, increasing parking prices, and odd-even policy and also simultaneously applying some of the encouraging policies and effective restrictive policies in the form of a policy package are being investigated in the central business district of Isfahan city. Urban transportation causal loops were conceptualized and the dynamic relations among urban transportation variables were created to develop the pertinent urban dynamics model. Efficacious transportation policies, which will be implemented for ten years, will be ranked in accordance with monitoring three indicators of air pollution, energy consumption and traffic mobility. Respectively, completing metro network development, BRT network development, improving bicycle facilities, cordon pricing, increasing parking prices, improving bus services, improving taxi services, odd-even policy, and encouraging to carpool are the most effective policies in Isfahan CBD. Among combined policies, completing metro network development simultaneously with cordon pricing has been the most effective combined policy to decrease air pollution and energy consumption and to increase traffic mobility in future.