University of California Transportation Center

The adoption of congestion pricing depends fundamentally upon drivers' willingness to pay to reduce travel time during the congested morning peak period. Using reveled preference data from congestion pricing demonstration project San Diego, we estimate that willingness to pay to reduce congested travel time is higher than previous stated preference results. Our estimate of median willingness to pay to reduce commute time is rouhgly $30 per hour, although this may be biased upward by drivers' perception that the toll facility provides safer driving conditions. Drivers aslo use the posted toll as an indicator of abnormal congestion and increase thier usage of the toll facility when tolls are higher than normal.