Road pricing and accessibility. Geographical accessibility measures often consist of an opportunity and an impedance component. In most cases costs are not used as impedance. By using a generalized transport cost function, travel times are multiplied with a value of time. The resulting cost function can then easily be extended with an extra road pricing cost. However, to be able to describe accessibility effects of road pricing in a realistic way account must be taken of the fact that actors with different characteristics and attitudes will perceive accessibility in a different way. Furthermore accessibility measures must take the reliability of travel times into account, which may change due to road pricing. To get a good insight into accessibility changes before and after implementation of road pricing it is finally also necessary to get insight into the size of possible behavioural changes. A simulation study with adapted contour and potential measures gives some preliminary insights into possible accessibility effects of road pricing. Although measures need to be extended and improved in further research, preliminary results indicate that accessibility does not always have to decrease when implementing a road pricing measure. Accessibility for particular groups might even increase. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting