Drivers' Willingness-to-Pay to Reduce Travel Time: Evidence from the San Diego I-15 Congestion Pricing Project

The adoption of congestion pricing depends fundamentally upon drivers' willingness to pay to reduce travel time during the congested morning peak period. Using revealed preference data from a congestion pricing demonstration project in San Diego, we estimate that willingness to pay to reduce congested travel time is higher than previous stated preference results. Our estimate of median willingness to pay to reduce commute time is roughly $30 per hour, although this may be biased upward by drivers' perception that the toll facility provides safer driving conditions. Drivers also use the posted toll as an indicator of abnormal congestion and increase their usage of the toll facility when tolls are higher than normal.