Roads/Highways

Can Rebates Foster Equity in Congestion Pricing Programs?

Sallee, James M.
Tarduno, Matthew A.
2022

Congestion pricing improves economic efficiency, but it may lead to inequitable outcomes. A key policy priority in California is identifying ways to avoid the hardship of congestion pricing on low income or other vulnerable populations. This study uses data from a congestion pricing experiment in the Seattle metro area to examine the feasibility of using revenue from congestion pricing to compensate those harmed by the policy. Results indicate that the initial burden of congestion pricing is highly inequitable, with the lowest income drivers paying an average of 7 percent of their weekly...

Empirical Reassessment of Traffic Operations: Freeway Bottlenecks and the Case for HOV Lanes

Cassidy, Michael
Daganzo, Carlos F.
Jang, Kitae
Chung, Koohong
2006

An earlier empirical study of San Francisco Bay Area freeways concluded that HOV lanes unfavorably affect freeway traffic by creating congestion. That study attributed the observed congestion to HOV lanes and tentatively recommended their elimination over the full lengths of the freeways it examined; and even from all Bay Area freeways. It recognized, however, that its analysis is fragmentary and recommended further work to solidify its conclusions. This is logical since the study lacks a spatiotemporal analysis to pinpoint where and how congestion first forms (at bottlenecks).The present...

California’s Freeway Service Patrol Program: Management Information Systems Annual Report Fiscal Year 2015-2106

Mauch, Michael
Skabardonis, Alex
2017

The Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) is an incident management program implemented by Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol and local partner agencies to quickly detect and assist disabled vehicles and reduce non-recurring congestion along the freeway during peak commute hours. The first FSP program was piloted in Los Angeles, and was later expanded to other regions by state legislation in 1991. As of June 2016, there were fourteen participating FSP Programs operating in California, deploying over 340 tow trucks and covering over 1,800 (center-line) miles of congested California freeways....

California’s Freeway Service Patrol Program: Management Information System Annual Report Fiscal Year 2017-18

Mauch, Michael
Skabardonis, Alex
2019

The Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) is an incident management program implemented by Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol and local partner agencies to quickly detect and assist disabled vehicles and reduce non-recurring congestion along the freeway during peak commute hours. The first FSP program was piloted in Los Angeles, and was later expanded to other regions by state legislation in 1991. As of June 2018, there were fourteen participating FSP Programs operating in California, deploying 318 tow trucks and covering over 1,725 (center-line) miles of congested California freeways. The...

California’s Freeway Service Patrol Program: Management Information System Annual Report Fiscal Year 2019-20

Mauch, Michael
Skabardonis, Alex
2021

The Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) is an incident management program implemented by Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol and local partner agencies to quickly detect and assist disabled vehicles and reduce non-recurring congestion along the freeway during peak commute hours. The first FSP program was piloted in Los Angeles, and was later expanded to other regions by state legislation in 1991. As of June 2019, there were fourteen participating FSP Programs operating in California, deploying 338 tow trucks and covering over 1,806 (centerline) miles of congested California freeways. The...

Proceedings of the Institute of Transportation 50th Birthday Symposium April 23-24, 1998 The Transportation Enterprise: Challenges of ther 21st Century

Bertini, Robert L.
Orrick, Phyllis
1998

This report is a summary of proceedings from a two-day symposium convened by the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California at Berkeley in April 1998 to commemorate the fiftieth birthday of the Institute and to lay the groundwork for the Institute’s second fifty years. With the title, The Transportation Enterprise: Challenges of the 21st Century, the Symposium set out to generate thoughtful, active discussion in preparation for laying out an action plan for the Institute in the21stCentury.

Are our Transit Systems Ready for Earthquakes?

Soga, Kenichi, PhD
Comfort, Louise, PhD
Zhao, Bingyu, PhD
Tang, Yili (Kelly), PhD
Han, Tianyu
2024

Located on the tectonic boundary with multiple active faults, the San Francisco Bay Area is highly vulnerable to earthquakes. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has estimated a 72% probability of an earthquakewith a magnitude of 6.7 or greater striking the region within the next 30 years. Historical seismic events have demonstrated the profound impact earthquakes can have on transportation systems. During the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, the closure of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, a critical transit route for San Francisco commuters, left nearly 400,000 commuters and...

Connected and Automated Vehicle Technology is Not Enough; it Must also be Collaborative

Patire, Anthony D., PhD
Dion, Francois, PhD
Bayen, Alexandre M., PhD
2023

Connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) willrevolutionize the way we travel; however, what impact this revolution will have on advancing broader societal goals is uncertain. To date, the private sector technology rollout has emphasized the automation side of CAVs and neglected the potentially transformative possibilities brought by a more collaborative notion of connectivity. This may have significant downsides from a broader societal perspective. For example, CAVs (including those on the road today) collect a vast amount of data gathered through onboard systems (e.g., radar, lidar, camera...

Congestion Pricing Can Be Equitable If a Portion of the Revenue is Returned to Drivers

Sallee, James, PhD
Tarduno, Matthew, PhD
2003

Economists have long argued in favor of congestion pricing, under which drivers pay a fee or toll to enter roadways during peak times. An increasing number of global cities have adopted or are considering pricing programs. Even so, these regimes remain relatively rare and controversial. One key concern with congestion pricing is fairness. Road pricing can pose a substantial burden for low-income drivers, many of whom have little option to avoid travel during peak times and limited opportunity to choose other modes of travel. Prior research has shown that congestion pricing regimes tend to...

The Expansion of California’s Freeway Service Patrol Program is Delivering Benefits to Motorists and the Environment

Mauch, Michael
Skabardonis, Alexander
McKeever, Benjamin
2019

The Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) program has the goal of reducing congestion by using fleets of roving tow and service trucks to quickly clear disabled vehicles and address other minor accidents on California’s freeway. The FSP program is jointly managed by Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol (CHP), and regional transportation agencies. Approximately $21.25 million in State transportation funds are provided each year to eligible regional transportation agencies for the FSP program using a formula-based allocation. The Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (SB 1) directs an...