SWUTC Research Project Description
Title of Project: Road Pricing and Trucking in Congested Regions: A Survey of Carriers
Project Number: 476660-00066
Principal Investigator:
C. Michael Walton
(512) 471-1414
P.I. Affiliation: University of Texas at Austin
cmwalton@mail.utexas.edu
Project Monitor:
Phil Russell, Director
Texas Turnpike Authority
Texas Department of Transportation
125 E. 11th Street
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 936-0903
John Esparza, President
Texas Motor Transportation Association
700 E. 11th Street
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 478-2541
Project Status: Active
Date Started: 9/1/08
Estimation Completion Date: 8/31/09
Estimated Cost - Current Fiscal: $57,000
Estimated Cost - Total Planned: $57,000
Project Summary:
Project Abstract:
In Texas, where traditional funding lags behind needs to maintain and improve the state’s infrastructure, much of the state’s new highway capacity is being financed through tolls. With Texas’s major cities already among the nation’s most congested, considerable growth in both population and freight expected, and opportunities for capacity expansion limited by environmental and land-use concerns, it is likely that applications of road pricing to better manage existing capacity will be also necessary in the future. Little research has been performed to examine truck response to road pricing, and it is clear from the few studies that have been performed that this response is highly variable depending on location, industry sector, commodity type, and trip distance. The purpose of this study is to identify and quantify how the different segments of the trucking industry would respond to road pricing applications, including traditional toll roads, variably priced toll roads, mixed-use express lane facilities, and truck-only tolled facilities. Industry variables that will be examined include truck load type, trip distance, commodity, and familiarity with toll roads.
Project Objectives:
The purpose of this study is to identify and quantify how the different segments of the trucking industry would respond to road pricing applications, including traditional toll roads, variably priced toll roads, mixed-use express lane facilities, and truck-only tolled facilities. Industry variables that will be examined include truck load type, trip distance, commodity, and familiarity with toll roads.
Task Descriptions:
Task 1:
Complete a comprehensive literature review of road-pricing research relating to trucks. Topics examined will include general trucking attitudes toward tolling as well as truck values-of-time, elasticities of response to road pricing applications, and diversion from priced facilities. A review and update of previous research examining innovative road pricing concepts will also be completed.
Task 2:
Review surveying methods, including paper, online, telephone, in-person, other innovative survey methods to determine potential survey formats.
Task 3:
Perform preliminary interviews with tolling and trucking industry experts to identify industry segments, survey target groups in Texas’s urban areas, and the best methods for completing the survey.
Task 4:
Develop a draft survey.
Task 5:
Perform pilot testing/review of survey with industry experts.
Task 6:
Complete final survey and distribute to carriers.
Task 7:
Analyze survey results to identify and quantify the response of different trucking industry segments to road pricing applications.
Task 8:
Produce a final report detailing project results and recommendations.
Index Terms:
Traffic congestion, Road pricing, Highway capacity, Rates, fares and tolls, Truck tractors, Truck traffic, Trucking, Trucks, Freight traffic, Texas, Research projects