Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Series: Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers
Creation-Date: 2013-07-16
Number: 13-089/VIII
Author-Name: Martin W. Adler
Author-Workplace-Name: VU University Amsterdam
Author-Name: Jos van Ommeren
Author-Workplace-Name: VU University Amsterdam
Author-Name: Piet Rietveld
Author-Workplace-Name: VU University Amsterdam
Title: Road Congestion and Incident Duration
Abstract: Non-recurrent congestion is frequently caused by accidents and other incidents. We estimate the causal effect of incident duration on drivers’ time losses through changes in non-recurrent road congestion on Dutch highways. We demonstrate that incident duration has a strong positive, but concave, effect on non-recurrent congestion. The duration elasticity of non-recurrent congestion is about 0.40 implying that a one minute duration reduction generates a €60 gain per incident. We also show that at locations with high levels of recurrent congestion, non-recurrent congestion levels are considerably higher. At very congested locations, the benefit of reducing the incident duration by one minute is about €500 per incident. Public policies that prioritize duration reductions at congested locations are therefore more beneficial.
Classification-JEL: R4
Keywords: congestion, vehicle-loss-hours, incident duration, accidents
File-Url: https://papers.tinbergen.nl/13089.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 476929 bytes
Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20130089