Econometrica: Jul, 2024, Volume 92, Issue 4
Peak-Hour Road Congestion Pricing: Experimental Evidence and Equilibrium Implications
https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA18422
p. 1233-1268
Gabriel Kreindler
Developing country megacities suffer from severe road traffic congestion, yet the level of congestion is not a direct measure of equilibrium inefficiency. I study the peak‐hour traffic congestion equilibrium in Bangalore. To measure travel preferences, I use a model of departure time choice to design a field experiment with congestion pricing policies and implement it using precise GPS data. Commuter responses in the experiment reveal moderate schedule inflexibility and a high value of time. I then show that in Bangalore, traffic density has a moderate and linear impact on travel delay. My policy simulations with endogenous congestion indicate that optimal congestion charges would lead to a small reduction in travel times, and small commuter welfare gains. This result is driven primarily by the shape of the congestion externality. Overall, these results suggest limited commuter welfare benefits from peak‐spreading traffic policies in cities like Bangalore.
Supplemental Material
Supplement to "Peak-Hour Road Congestion Pricing: Experimental Evidence and Equilibrium Implications"
Gabriel E. Kreindler
This supplement contains material not found within the manuscript.
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Supplement to "Peak-Hour Road Congestion Pricing: Experimental Evidence and Equilibrium Implications"
Gabriel E. Kreindler
The replication package for this paper is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10637043. The authors were granted an exemption to publish parts of their data because either access to these data is restricted or the authors do not have the right to republish them. However, the authors included in the package, on top of the codes and the parts of the data that are not subject to the exemption, a simulated or synthetic dataset that allows running the codes. The Journal checked the data and the codes for their ability to generate all tables and figures in the paper and approved online appendices. Whenever the available data allowed, the Journal also checked for their ability to reproduce the results. However, the synthetic/simulated data are not designed to produce the same results.
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