UC Irvine Institute of Transportation Studies

Transportation professionals have always been interested in how travelers respond to different transportation options. A new application of congestion pricing offers the opportunity to extend such research to situations where travelers face a priced alternative. Travelers along State Route 91 (SR 91) in Southern California can now pay a time-varying fee in order to travel on a set of essentially congestion-free "Express Lanes" located in the median of a very congested preexisting freeway. For this study, we conduct a mail survey of such travelers to learn how they decide to use the free lanes or the toll lanes. We use the data to estimate route choice models and models that incorporate various types of real-time information about accidents, traffic conditions, and price levels into the route choice decision. This study provides new information about the acceptance of congestion pricing, the use of real-time information in making dynamic travel decisions, and individual travelers' interests in forming carpools.