Informing the Placement of Cordon Lines to Optimize Impacts of Congestion Pricing

Research Team: Michael Cassidy (lead) and Carlos Daganzo

UC Campus(es): UC Berkeley

Additional Research Partners: San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA)

Problem Statement: San Francisco and Los Angeles plan to deploy congestion pricing. Their plans call for levying tolls on car travelers who cross cordon lines to enter a specific area of each city. Preliminary research suggests that the choice of where to place a cordon within a city may be the design factor that exerts greatest influence on the success of any pricing scheme in terms of shifting travel behavior and/or raising revenues.

Project Description: This project builds upon previous research suggesting that optimal cordon placements can be approximated via a simple rule that could be applied in any real setting. Using traffic simulation models enhanced to emulate the particularities of cordon-based pricing, this project will demonstrate that using this rule to place cordons will maximize favorable modal shifts (e.g., move travelers from single-occupancy vehicles to transit or other share modes) and revenues raised; and minimize or nearly minimize vehicle miles travelled in a city. Simulations will be conducted on a variety of idealized regional configurations as well as for San Francisco, as a case study.

Status: In Progress

Budget: $100,000