关键词: 城市交通, FAIR道路, 方案评价, 拥挤收费, 信用政策, 社会公平

Abstract:

Congestion pricing is one of the most effective measures to tackle roadway traffic congestion. Its bias impacts on social equity, however, are the most concerns that hinder the public’s acceptance. Recently, a number of credit- based congestion pricing (CBCP) schemes were developed, which distribute monetary credits as subsidies to low-income commuters who may be negatively affected by the tolling highway. One of the earliest CBCP is FAIR (Fast and Intertwined Regular) highway. First, the concept and system designs of FAIR scheme are introduced, and then its pros and cons are summarized as compared to traditional highway congestion management strategies (e.g., HOV and HOT lanes). Through modeling travelers’ behaviors, the performance of FAIR scheme is quantitatively evaluated on an experiment highway. The results show that FAIR highway has significant effectiveness on congestion reduction, although some detailed system elements (e.g., credits policy) should be prudently designed in practice. The study is worth attentions of Chinese decision makers, especially in the current situation that the traffic congestion is deteriorating but traditional congestion pricing remains unpopular in Chinese cities.

Key words: urban traffic, FAIR highway, scheme evaluation, congestion pricing, credits policy, social equity