Abstract
This paper examines whether metering entry to highways can reduce commuting costs. A modified version of the bottleneck congestion model is considered, which includes travel time downstream of the bottleneck. The highway authority's choice of an entry rate enables it to substitute queuing time for travel time. The authority's choice is constrained by the road's speed-flow curve. It is found that the benefits of metering increase as the speed that would prevail in the absence of metering decreases and as the speed-flow curve gets flatter. The major cost of metering is providing a holding area for vehicles waiting to enter. (A)