Evaluation of congestion pricing for management highway in Seattle

Congestion is one of the most important and complex transportation problems facing the American population. The Texas Transportation Institute reported that delays due to congestion cost up to an average of $63.1 billion per year and 5.7 billion gallons of wasted fuel every year. An important area of interest is Seattle Washington, where, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation, residents averaged over 46 hours of annual delay per traveler in 2003. The rapid increase in population and travel demand along with the unmatched growth of infrastructure in Seattle has resulted in the desire for evaluating a Congestion Pricing strategy that will help reduce traffic delays and improve the throughput of the I-5 network, in the Puget Sound Region. Analysis of a similar existing system (State Route 167) showed success, and similar key parameters are being used in the evaluation of the new system, such as population, traffic trends, income levels, etc. The performance of the new system is evaluated based on three decision variables or metrics: throughput of system, average speed and trip reliability. We are using Noblis' traffic model known as INTEGRATION 1.5times7 which simulates traffic data but does not incorporate prices (toll prices). We will be looking at existing systems such as SR 167 and California Freeway and Expressway System to incorporate prices in our model. An Arena Simulation model was created and calibrated to the integration model. Preliminary analysis and results show that variably priced lanes (HOT lanes) seem to be the best fit for our region of interest. All three models work together to simulate existing traffic data and the results are evaluated to analyze the performance of the different congestion pricing systems in the I-5 network, along the Seattle Central Puget Sound Region.