Value Pricing or Lexus Lanes? The Distributional Effects of Dynamic Tolling
Paper available upon request and is joint with Cody Cook.
Abstract:
This paper studies the welfare and distributional effects of dynamically priced highway toll lanes. To quantify the equilibrium effects of tolling, we develop and estimate a model of driver demand, the road technology, and the pricing algorithm. The demand model features heterogeneous drivers choosing both where and when to drive, as well as uncertainty about prices and travel times. A key welfare channel is the option value of tolling: even drivers who infrequently take the priced lanes can benefit from having the option but not the obligation to pay for speed. The model is estimated using data on toll transactions, historical traffic conditions, and driver characteristics from the I-405 Express Toll Lanes in Washington State. Relative to a world in which the same number of highway lanes are all free, status-quo tolling increases aggregate welfare and benefits drivers in all income quartiles, driven in large part by the option value. Moreover, we find that drivers in the bottom income quartile gain the most under status-quo tolling. Low-income drivers have the longest I-405 commutes and they face low prices relative to their time savings from the priced lanes. They also have high option values of tolling because they are more price-sensitive, so they are more likely to be marginal when deciding between the priced and unpriced lanes. Finally, we show how simple revisions to the pricing algorithm can increase aggregate welfare and achieve redistributive goals.