Intelligent transportation system deployment for lane management through value pricing

Alarming increases in freeway congestion and limited funding for additional infrastructure have led to the development of innovative funding and operational strategies. Lane management through congestion based pricing has been proven effective in controlling user demand as well as generating additional revenue. The successful deployment of value priced lanes requires that travel time information be provided to drivers in real time allowing the user to chose routes based on each person's perception of the time value of money. To accurately collect and relay this information, intelligent transportation systems (ITS) have been deployed and are capable of collecting traffic data, disseminating route information, and tolling vehicles in real time operations. This study focused on the best ITS deployment strategy to operate a value priced lane efficiently and cost effectively. Both a basic and advanced ITS deployment systems are described along with their respective costs and benefits. To compare the costs of ITS to the revenue generated by value pricing, a case study was performed for Loop 1 in Austin, Texas. The number of drivers willing to use the lane given delay conditions and costs were derived from a 2005 stated preference survey conducted in Central Texas. The case study determined that the inventory of equipment operates profitably after recovering the initial capital cost after one year for most ITS deployment scenarios, and the revenue generated from the value priced lane should continue to increase as volume increases and the lane improves the overall roadway operations.