Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Series: Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers
Creation-Date: 2002-06-28
Revision-Date: 2003-05-27
Number: 02-062/3
Author-Name: Erik T. Verhoef
Author-Email: everhoef@feweb.vu.nl
Author-Workplace-Name: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Title: Inside the Queue
Abstract: This paper develops a continuous-time -continuous-place economic model of road trafficcongestion with a bottleneck, based on car-following theory. The model integrates twoarchetype congestion technologies used in the economics literature: 'static flow congestion',originating in the works of Pigou, and 'dynamic bottleneck congestion', pioneered byVickrey. Because a closed-form analytical solution of the formal model does not exist, itsbehaviour is explored using a simulation model. In a setting with endogenous departure timechoice and with a bottleneck along the route, it is shown that 'hypercongestion' can arise as adynamic -transitional and local- equilibrium phenomenon. Also dynamic toll schedules areexplored. It is found that a toll rule based on an intuitive dynamic and space-varyinggeneralization of the standard Pigouvian tax rule can hardly be improved upon. A naiveapplication of a toll schedule based on Vickrey 's bottleneck model, in contrast, appears toperform much worse and actually even reduces welfare in the numerical model.
Classification-JEL: R41; R48; D62
Keywords: congestion; road pricing; networks
File-Url: https://papers.tinbergen.nl/02062.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 362161 bytes
Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20020062