The value of automobile travel time: implications for congestion policy

Public policy has remained stoutly resistant to the economic profession's call to use congestion tolls to minimize the social costs from automobile congestion. This paper explores this issue by using stated preference models to estimate the value that commuters are willing to pay to save travel time. We find that this value is low and surprisingly insensitive to travel conditions and how toll revenues are used. It appears that even high-income commuters, having adjusted to congestion through their modal, residential, workplace, and departure time choices, simply do not value travel time savings enough to benefit substantially from tolls. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A.