FINDINGS OF A STUDY TO ESTIMATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PROPOSED CAR-POOL-INCENTIVE POLICIES

This paper summarizes the findings of a car-pooling impact study conducted for the Federal Energy Administration. The aim of the study was to estimate the impacts of various proposed car-pool-incentive policies on work travel. A market research methodology was adapted to estimate modal-split impacts under various policy conditions and corresponding estimates of vehicle kilometers of travel and fuel consumption. A trade-off model was used to simulate modal behavior under 14 representative car-pool-incentive policies and nine travel-time sensitivity tests. Paired-comparison responses on work-trip preference collected by a specially designed survey were the primary input to the trade-off model. The study produced two major sets of results: (a) tabulations and cross tabulations of the survey data and (b) estimates of the impact on modal split, vehicle kilometers of travel, and fuel comsumption from policy simulations of the trade-off model. Gasoline rationing was found to be the most effective policy for reducing vehicle kilometers of travel and fuel comsumption. Substantial surcharges on gasoline sales and parking in the central business district or in facilities of major employers were moderately effective. Purely incentive policies such as tax rebates to car-pool members and car-pool matching programs were not very effective. If practical policies for achieving significant discriminatory travel-time advantages for high-occupancy vehicles could be implemented, they would be moderately effective. /Author/