Projects

26 May

Road Network Pricing Study

Background

Transurban commissioned Accent and PJM Economics to design and implement a stated preference (SP) study to explore the likely demand impacts attributable to various network pricing initiatives under review for the Go Via network in Brisbane, Queensland.

The study was focused on a set of six assets in close proximity—Legacy Way, Clem7, AirportlinkM7, Go Between Bridge, Gateway Motorway and Logan Motorway—as opposed to a single tolled asset. This feature means that there were a very large number of travel patterns that could potentially utilise Transurban assets, and in different ways.

Approach

The research targeted the existing market (account holders) and the potential market (non-account holders).

A survey was conducted which consisted of general questions about using the Go Via network, followed by two stated preference exercises.

The stated preference exercises were conducted to enable a simulator model to be developed to predict the likely demand impacts attributable to various network pricing initiatives currently under review for the go via network in Brisbane.

• The first exercise focused on route choice for individual journeys. It derived estimates of the impact on demand caused by switching routes to include the go via network assets as a consequence of pricing variations that affect individual routes.
• The second exercise focused on numbers of journeys made over the course of the week. It asked respondents to consider their pattern of travel behaviour as a whole over the course of the reference week, and choose whether they would change how they made those journeys, and if any additional journeys would be made, given two types of network pricing incentives: a Value Plan and a multi-trip discount.

Results

The survey findings identified the barriers to further use of toll roads and provided evidence on the size of the market and the potential for increasing the number of journeys using the Transurban network.

Analysis of the stated preference data found evidence of the impact on journeys and revenue of each of the potential network pricing initiatives.  Whilst all iniatives led to increases in journeys, only some were revenue enhancing, with others being abstractive.