THE EFFECTS OF NETWORK STRUCTURE OF THE BENEFITS DERIVABLE FROM ROAD PRICING

THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS THAT COULD BE DERIVED FROM ROAD PRICING SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN ESTIMATED BY SEVERAL AUTHORS. MOST OF THESE ESTIMATES EMPLOYED A MODEL OF A SINGLE LENGTH OF ROAD AND GENERALISED THE RESULTS TO ROAD NETWORKS. THIS REPORT COMPARES THESE RESULTS WITH LATER WORK CARRIED OUT FOR MODELS OF ROAD NETWORKS. THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO METHODS ARE ILLUSTRATED AND DISCUSSED. THE MAIN FINDING IS THAT THE NETWORK MODELS PICK OUT AN ADDITIONAL BENEFIT AT LOW ELASTICITIES DUE TO THE BETTER USE OF EXISTING ROAD CAPACITY SOLELY BY THE RE-ROUTING OF THE TRAVELLERS. (A).