Quantifying the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Passenger Vehicle Drivers’ Willingness to Pay for Travel Time Savings and Reliability

The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally disrupted travel behavior and consumer preferences. To slow the spread of the virus, public health officials and state and local governments issued stay-at-home orders and, among other actions, closed nonessential businesses and educational facilities. The resulting recessionary effects have been particularly acute for U.S. toll roads, with an observed year-over-year decline in traffic and revenue of 50% to 90% in April and May 2020. These disruptions have also led to changes in the types of trip that travelers make and their frequency, their choice of travel mode, and their willingness to pay tolls for travel time savings and travel time reliability. This paper describes the results of travel behavior research conducted on behalf of the Virginia Department of Transportation before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the National Capital Region of Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Northern Virginia. The research included a stated preference survey to estimate travelers’ willingness to pay for travel time savings and travel time reliability, to support forecasts of traffic and revenue for existing and proposed toll corridors. The survey collected data between December 2019 and June 2020. A comparison of the data collected before and during the pandemic shows widespread changes in travel behavior and a reduction in willingness to pay for travel time savings and travel time reliability across all traveler types, particularly for drivers making trips to or from work. These findings have significant implications for the return of travelers to toll corridors in the region and future forecasts of traffic and revenue.

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Illustrating the Monetary Impact of Transportation Projects/Alternatives using the Values of Travel Time and Travel Time Reliability

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.1177/0361198118790378 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2672 (51) ◽

pp. 88-98 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Venkata R. Duddu ◽

Srinivas S. Pulugurtha ◽

Praveena Penmetsa

Keyword(s):

Travel Time ◽

Cost Benefit Analysis ◽

Cost Benefit ◽

Transportation Systems ◽

Travel Time Reliability ◽

Benefit Analysis ◽

Transportation Projects ◽

Travel Time Savings ◽

Time Savings ◽

The Impact

State agencies, regional agencies, cities, towns, and local municipalities design and maintain transportation systems for the benefit of users by improving mobility, reducing travel time, and enhancing safety. Cost–benefit analysis based on travel time savings and the value of reliability helps these agencies in prioritizing transportation projects or when evaluating transportation alternatives. This paper illustrates the use of monetary values of travel time savings and travel time reliability, computed for the state of North Carolina, to help assess the impact of transportation projects or alternatives. The results obtained indicate that, based on the illustration of the effect and impact of various transportation projects or alternatives, both improved travel time and reliability on roads yield significant monetary benefits. However, from cost–benefit analysis, it is observed that greater benefits can be achieved through improved reliability compared with benefits from a decrease in travel time for a given section of road.

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Performance Analyses of Information-Based Managed Lane Choice Decisions in a Connected Vehicle Environment

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.1177/0361198120940311 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2674 (11) ◽

pp. 120-133 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Xiaoyu Guo ◽

Yongxin Peng ◽

Sruthi Ashraf ◽

Mark W. Burris

Keyword(s):

Travel Time ◽

Travel Behavior ◽

Information Exchange ◽

Traffic Management ◽

Connected Vehicle ◽

Market Penetration ◽

Performance Measurements ◽

Time Saving ◽

Travel Time Savings ◽

Time Savings

Connected vehicle (CV) technology can connect, communicate, and share information between vehicles, infrastructure, and other traffic management systems. Recent research has examined and promoted CV and connected automated vehicle (CAV) technology on managed lane systems to increase capacity and reduce congestion, as managed lane systems could be equipped with advanced infrastructure relatively quickly. However, the effect on travel considering, information-based managed lane choice decisions in a CV environment is not clear. Therefore, this research analyzed the potential effects on a managed lane system with connected vehicles considering several travel behavior elements, including drivers’ willingness to reroute and their choice of managed lanes based on individual travel time savings. This study analyzed the potential effects on a managed lane system by assigning different market penetration rates (0%, 10%, 50%, 100%) of CVs and informing CV drivers about travel time savings for a 10-mi stretch at 5-min intervals. How the traffic performance measurements (i.e., throughput, travel time saving, average speed and average travel time) vary under different market penetration rates of CVs is then investigated. Two major conclusions are reached: (i) although information exchange was assumed to be instantaneous between vehicles and the system, there existed a response time (or time delay) in the macroscopic traffic reflection; (ii) managed lane use may decrease, when travel time information becomes available, since drivers perceive they are saving more travel time than they actually do save.

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The valuation and demand impacts of the worthwhile use of travel time with specific reference to the digital revolution and endogeneity

Transportation ◽

10.1007/s11116-019-10059-x ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 47 (3) ◽

pp. 1515-1540 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Mark Wardman ◽

Phani Chintakayala ◽

Chris Heywood

Keyword(s):

Travel Time ◽

Specific Reference ◽

Digital Revolution ◽

Use Of Time ◽

Individual Variations ◽

Travel Time Savings ◽

Time Savings ◽

Large Survey ◽

The Impact ◽

Over Time

Abstract The research reported here is concerned with how the worthwhile use of travel time might impact on the value of travel time savings (VTTS) and on demand set in the context of the rail travel market in Great Britain. It has long been recognised, in a variety of literature, that improvements in worthwhile activities which will have been delivered by the digital revolution will impact VTTS and demand yet there is surprisingly little reliable evidence and official appraisal practice does not accommodate any such effects. In a large survey of rail travellers, we have explored how activities while travelling impact on VTTS and demand. An important feature of the study was to account for endogeneity whereby variations in VTTS estimates according to the worthwhile use of time are biased if drawn from comparisons across individuals of what they do while travelling rather from comparing within individual variations in activities. Indeed, we clearly demonstrate the impact of not allowing for endogeneity and indicate its presence in other studies. We find that the VTTS does vary according to activities undertaken while travelling in a largely credible manner and is broadly consistent with behavioural responses to different available activities. The evidence supports the VTTS falling over time due to the digital revolution and rail demand increasing. These are modest rather than considerable changes but nonetheless contribute a better understanding of evidence relating to VTTS and rail demand variations over time.

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Value of travel time savings and willingness to pay for regional aviation

Transportation Research Part A Policy and Practice ◽

10.1016/j.tra.2016.11.022 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 96 ◽

pp. 29-42 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Rico Merkert ◽

Matthew Beck

Keyword(s):

Willingness To Pay ◽

Travel Time ◽

Regional Aviation ◽

Travel Time Savings ◽

Time Savings

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The impact of the London congestion charging scheme on the generalised cost of car commuters to the city of London from a value of travel time savings perspective

Transport Policy ◽

10.1016/j.tranpol.2005.07.002 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 22-33 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

Georgina Santos ◽

Jasvinder Bhakar

Keyword(s):

Travel Time ◽

A Value ◽

Travel Time Savings ◽

Time Savings ◽

Generalised Cost ◽

City Of London ◽

The Impact ◽

Congestion Charging ◽

The City

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Katy Freeway High-Occupancy Vehicle Lane Value Pricing Project, Houston, Texas: Evaluation of Usage

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.3141/1732-04 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 1732 (1) ◽

pp. 32-41

Author(s):

Mark Hickman ◽

Quanta Brown ◽

Alejandro Miranda

Keyword(s):

Travel Time ◽

Travel Behavior ◽

Demographic Data ◽

First Year ◽

Mode Shift ◽

Frequency Of Use ◽

Travel Time Savings ◽

Time Savings ◽

Time Of Travel ◽

Value Pricing

Usage of the QuickRide program on the Katy high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane in Houston, Texas, is described. The QuickRide program allows two-person carpools to use the HOV lane for $2.00 during peak periods when the lane is restricted to three or more persons. Use of QuickRide during its first year is described, and an analysis of the demand for the program is presented. QuickRide usage, reported travel behavior, and demographic data are used to analyze user travel patterns, travel time savings, and frequency of use. In the 1-year demonstration, demand averaged slightly over 100 vehicles per day, with more than 60 percent of these vehicles traveling in the morning peak. Participants' average use of QuickRide was only about 0.9 times per week, and very few participants used it more than five times per week. Yet a sampling of travel days indicates that, for the $2.00 fee, the average vehicle saves about 20 min of travel time. Responses to a mail-back survey show a significant mode shift from drive-alone to QuickRide, amounting to more than 50 percent of QuickRide trips. A substantial shift was also seen in the time of travel into the peak hour, totaling about one-third of QuickRide trips. Finally, larger household sizes and higher incomes appear to be good predictors of QuickRide use. Interestingly, previous use of the HOV lane was not a good indicator, either positively or negatively, for the frequency of use of QuickRide. These results suggest that ( a) the total demand for HOV-2 value pricing may be limited in major travel corridors, despite large potential time savings; ( b) substantial shifts in mode and time of travel are possible with HOV-2 value pricing; and ( c) household size and income are good indicators, but HOV lane use is a poor indicator, of the frequency of use of an HOV-2 value pricing program.

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