Responses of Trucking Operations to Road Pricing in Central Texas
Beatriz Rutzen, Jolanda Prozzi and C. Michael Walton, University of Texas at Austin, October 2010, 110 pp. (476660-00066-1)
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.
Keywords: Trucks, Commercial Vehicles, Toll Roads, Road Pricing
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