UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Toll-Managed Lanes: Benefit-Cost Analyses of Seven Projects. Year 25 Final Report

Gomez-Ibanez, JA; Casady, CB; Fagan, M; Foote, J; Marsh, E; (2018) Toll-Managed Lanes: Benefit-Cost Analyses of Seven Projects. Year 25 Final Report. New England University Transportation Center: Cambridge, MA, USA. Green open access

[thumbnail of Casady_Toll-Managed Lanes Benefit-Cost Analyses of Seven Projects.pdf]
Preview
Text
Casady_Toll-Managed Lanes Benefit-Cost Analyses of Seven Projects.pdf

Download (910kB) | Preview

Abstract

Toll managed lanes are expressway lanes where tolls are used--often in combination with preferred access for high occupancy vehicles and other special traffic management techniques-- to improve the highway’s capacity, speed or reliability. Such lanes, and particularly a variant called High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes, have become popular with transportation policymakers as a way of maintaining free-flowing traffic on existing lanes while also, in some cases, financing the construction of new lanes in congested urban areas. This study examines whether toll-managed lanes are as beneficial as they are popular. The heart of the analysis is the application of a simplified social benefit-cost analysis to seven projects. In brief, the results suggest that toll-managed lanes, while promising, are not a surefire strategy for managing congestion. Only two of the seven projects have benefit-cost ratios above 1.0 using our base case assumptions about the value of travel time saved and the discount rate, although three others approach or exceed 1.0 with more optimistic but plausible assumptions. The most successful generate not only a significant savings of around 4 to 5 minutes per trip for motorists who switch to the managed lane but also smaller per-trip savings for the large majority of motorists who continue to use the general-purpose lanes. It is important to acknowledge, however, that these calculations depend upon some uncertain assumptions about the value of travel time savings and improved reliability.

Type: Report
Title: Toll-Managed Lanes: Benefit-Cost Analyses of Seven Projects. Year 25 Final Report
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Publisher version: https://utc.mit.edu/uploads/HVDR25-20-FP_181031_13...
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett Sch of Const and Proj Mgt
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10115442
Downloads since deposit
23Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item