Costs and benefits of travel time information Travel time information can improve the possibility to plan ones arrival time and avoid late arrivals. To determine the social benefits of travel time information, simulations were carried out using a departure time choice model. In these models, travel time is a stochastic variable, following an exponential distribution. In addition. travel time information exists with a certain level of uncertainty. Simulations were carried out for scenarios with varying congestion levels, and varying qualities of travel time information. The results suggest that the benefits of travel time information are about 1 € per trip on the trajectory studied, as compared to a situation without any information. It should be noted, however, that in reality many travellers will receive at least some of traffic information helping them to estimate their travel time. The benefit will be smaller in that case. Improving existing travel time information will, however, still lead to social benefits. As was expected, the benefits of travel time information increase with rising congestion levels. (Author/publisher)
Abstract