A heuristic method for finding congestion pricing schemes in transportation networks with modal choice

•  In this paper we extend a previously developed heuristic procedure, with a modal choice model, to solve the congestion pricing problem of simultaneously finding the optimal number of toll facilities, their corresponding location and toll levels. When considering a congestion pricing scheme the cost of collecting the tolls can not be disregarded. The objective is where-fore to maximize the net social surplus, which is the social surplus minus the cost of collect-ing the tolls. The heuristic method is an iterative solution procedure, in which the integer part of the objec-tive function is approximated by a continuous function. A version of the Sioux Falls network (76 links) is used to demonstrate the solution procedure. The solution is a congestion pricing scheme which divide the network into four zones, by locating tolls on 27 links. This solution yields a social surplus which is only 13.5% lower than the marginal social cost pricing solu-tion. 

Keyword

congestion pricing

traffic modeling

bi-level programming

TECHNOLOGY

TEKNIKVETENSKAP

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