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Hypercongestion

Author Info

Listed author(s):
  • Small, Kenneth A.
  • Chu, Xuehao

Abstract

The standard economic model for analyzing traffic congestion, due to A.A. Walters, incorporates a relationship between speed and traffic flow. Empirical measurements indicate a region, known as hypercongestion, in which speed increases with flow. We argue that this relationship is unsuitable as a supply curve for equilibrium analysis because hypercongestion occurs as a response to transient demand fluctuations. We then present tractable models for handling such fluctuations, both for a uniform expressway and for a dense street network such as in a central business district (CBD). For the CBD model, we consider both exogenous and endogenous time patterns for demand, and we make use of an empirical speed-density relationship for Dallas, Texas to characterize both congested and hypercongested conditions.

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File URL: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3nn3733q.pdf;origin=repeccitec
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Paper provided by University of California Transportation Center in its series University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers with number qt3nn3733q.

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Date of creation: 13 Dec 2000
Handle: RePEc:cdl:uctcwp:qt3nn3733q
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Keywords: congestion; hypercongestion; externalities; peakload pricing; dynamic analysis; speed-flow curves; Social and Behavioral Sciences;

Other versions of this item:

  • Small, K.A. & Chu, X., 1997. "Hypercongestion," Papers 97-98-12, California Irvine - School of Social Sciences.
Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise
  • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
  • C61 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis

References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Gordon F. Newell, 1987. "The Morning Commute for Nonidentical Travelers," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(2), pages 74-88, May.
  2. Mills, David E, 1981. "Ownership Arrangements and Congestion-Prone Facilities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(3), pages 493-502, June.
  3. Mun, Se-il, 1994. "Traffic jams and the congestion toll," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 365-375, October.
  4. Arnott, Richard & de Palma, Andre & Lindsey, Robin, 1990. "Economics of a bottleneck," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 111-130, January.
  5. Henderson, J. Vernon, 1981. "The economics of staggered work hours," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 349-364, May.
  6. Hani Mahmassani & Robert Herman, 1984. "Dynamic User Equilibrium Departure Time and Route Choice on Idealized Traffic Arterials," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(4), pages 362-384, November.
  7. McDonald, John F. & d'Ouville, Edmond L., 1988. "Highway traffic flow and the uneconomic region of production," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 503-509, November.
  8. Chu Xuehao, 1995. "Endogenous Trip Scheduling: The Henderson Approach Reformulated and Compared with the Vickrey Approach," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 324-343, May.
  9. Vickrey, William S, 1969. "Congestion Theory and Transport Investment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(2), pages 251-260, May.
  10. Small, Kenneth A, 1982. "The Scheduling of Consumer Activities: Work Trips," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(3), pages 467-479, June.
  11. Kai Nagel & Steen Rasmussen, 1994. "Traffic at the Edge of Chaos," Working Papers 94-06-032, Santa Fe Institute.
  12. Evans, Alan W, 1992. "Road Congestion: The Diagrammatic Analysis: Comment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(1), pages 211-217, February.
  13. Dewees, Donald N, 1979. "Estimating the Time Costs of Highway Congestion," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(6), pages 1499-1512, November.
  14. De Meza, David & Gould, J R, 1987. "Free Access versus Private Property in a Resource: Income Distributions Compared," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 95(6), pages 1317-1325, December.
  15. Edelson, Noel M, 1971. "Congestion Tolls Under Monopoly," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(5), pages 873-882, December.
  16. Arnott, Richard, 1990. "Signalized intersection queuing theory and central business district auto congestion," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 197-201, June.
  17. Oakland, William H., 1972. "Congestion, public goods and welfare," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(3-4), pages 339-357, November.
  18. Arnott, Richard, 1979. "Optimal city size in a spatial economy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 65-89, January.
  19. Siamak Ardekani & Robert Herman, 1987. "Urban Network-Wide Traffic Variables and Their Relations," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(1), pages 1-16, February.
  20. De Vany, Arthur & Saving, Thomas R, 1980. "Competition and Highway Pricing for Stochastic Traffic," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(1), pages 45-60, January.
  21. Fisk, Caroline, 1979. "More paradoxes in the equilibrium assignment problem," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 305-309, December.
  22. Berglas, Eitan & Pines, David, 1981. "Clubs, local public goods and transportation models : A synthesis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 141-162, April.
  23. Mohring, Herbert, 1970. "The Peak Load Problem with Increasing Returns and Pricing Constraints," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 60(4), pages 693-705, September.
  24. Arnott, Richard & de Palma, Andre & Lindsey, Robin, 1993. "A Structural Model of Peak-Period Congestion: A Traffic Bottleneck with Elastic Demand," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(1), pages 161-179, March.
  25. Small, Kenneth A, 1992. "Trip Scheduling in Urban Transportation Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(2), pages 482-486, May.
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Cited by:

  1. Ian W.H. Parry, 2009. "Pricing Urban Congestion," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 461-484, September.
  2. Arnott, Richard & Inci, Eren, 2010. "The stability of downtown parking and traffic congestion," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 260-276, November.
  3. Richard Arnott, 1997. "Congestion Tolling and Urban Spatial Structure," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 389., Boston College Department of Economics.

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