Value of Travel Time Reliability: Commuters' Route Choice Behavior and Study of Tradeoffs - Phase 2

The issue of travel time reliability is becoming more critical for the movement of people and freight. In order to examine issues related to the value of travel time reliability, we plan to test drivers' preferences for alternate commuter routes in a real world setting. The research participants will drive on three different routes in two cities: (1) primarily freeway, (2) primarily arterial roads, and (3) other streets. Freeways have a possible trade-off between high speeds and congestion during rush hour. Arterials typically have a series of traffic signals that may be timed to favor through-traffic. Other routes might…

The issue of travel time reliability is becoming more critical for the movement of people and freight. In order to examine issues related to the value of travel time reliability, we plan to test drivers' preferences for alternate commuter routes in a real world setting. The research participants will drive on three different routes in two cities: (1) primarily freeway, (2) primarily arterial roads, and (3) other streets. Freeways have a possible trade-off between high speeds and congestion during rush hour. Arterials typically have a series of traffic signals that may be timed to favor through-traffic. Other routes might have some traffic signals and some stop signs, but they likely have less traffic. By comparing driver perceptions of the alternate commuter routes, it will be possible to determine the weights associated with the different components of travel time. Driver preferences may also be based on qualitative factors such as the attractiveness of the route. Thus one objective of the proposed project is to measure and then model the route preferences of drivers who have experienced real-world alternatives to their regular commute to and from work. Preference data will be obtained after the participants have completed their morning and evening commutes on three alternate routes (customized for each driver). The added realism of the novel data collection method proposed for this project should enable the value of travel time reliability to be used in route preference models. In turn it will be possible to more accurately predict traffic patterns and produce solutions more likely to ameliorate traffic congestion. An additional objective of the proposed research is to make information about local road networks more available to drivers. This will allow for the better use of existing resources and road capacity for normal operations including when drivers are commuting to and from work.