A MODEL IS DEVELOPED FOR THE QUANTIFICATION OF DELAY COSTS AND OF THE CHANGE IN VEHICLE OPERATING COSTS CAUSED BY A TRAFFIC OF SLOW VEHICLES TO A TRAFFIC OF FAST ONES ON ONE LANE OF A TWO LANE ROAD. THE STOCHASTIC NATURE OF VEHICLE ENTRIES IS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT, AND THE QUANTIFICATION IS GENERAL, COVERING TRAFFICS OF ALL PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS. THE MODEL COVERS CONDITIONS IN WHICH OVERTAKING IS NOT POSSIBLE. THE MODEL IS APPLIED TO POISSON TRAFFIC AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE RESULTING COSTS ARE CONSIDERED. THE SENSITIVITY OF THESE CONGESTION COSTS IS CONSIDERED FOR DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS OF THE RELEVANT VARIABLES, AND THE MARGINAL CONGESTION COSTS ARE DERIVED FOR DIFFERENT CONDITIONS. CONGESTION PRICES, ESTIMATED ON A SPEED-FLOW BASIS, ARE COMPARED WITH EQUIVALENT PRICES ESTIMATED ON THE BASIS OF THIS MODEL. THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE APPROACH ADOPTED ARE EXAMINED FOR TRAFFIC FLOW THEORY AND THE CALCULATION OF CONGESTION COSTS.
Abstract