Does providing information to drivers reduce traffic congestion

Abstract The purpose of this article is to question the presumption that route guidance and information systems necessarily reduce traffic congestion, and to point out the need to consider the general equilibrium effects of information. A simple model of the morning rush hour is adopted in which commuters choose a departure time and one of two routes to work, the capacities of which are stochastic. While expected travel costs are reduced by perfectly informing all drivers about route capacities, this is not necessarily the case if imperfect information is provided. A heuristic explanation is that, absent tolls, congestion is an uninternalized externality. Information can cause drivers to change their departure times in such a way as to exacerbate congestion.

[1]  David E. Boyce,et al.  ROUTE GUIDANCE SYSTEMS FOR IMPROVING URBAN TRAVEL AND LOCATION CHOICES. IN: TRANSPORT AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS , 1988 .

[2]  Chris Hendrickson,et al.  Schedule Delay and Departure Time Decisions in a Deterministic Model , 1981 .

[3]  A. Palma,et al.  Economics of a bottleneck , 1986 .

[4]  Hironao Kawashima,et al.  A Stochastic Approach for Estimating the Effectiveness of a Route Guidance System and Its Related Parameters , 1985, Transp. Sci..

[5]  Richard Arnott,et al.  Information and Time-Of-Use Decisions in Stochastically Congestable Facilities , 1986 .

[6]  Michael Waldman,et al.  Rational Expectations and the Limits of Rationality: An Analysis of Heterogeneity , 1983 .

[7]  J. Hirshleifer The Private and Social Value of Information and the Reward to Inventive Activity , 1971 .

[8]  T H Maze,et al.  TECHNIQUES FOR MANAGING FREEWAY TRAFFIC CONGESTION , 1987 .

[9]  V F Hurdle,et al.  Effects of the choice of departure time on road traffic congestion. Theoretical approach , 1983 .

[10]  Moshe Ben-Akiva,et al.  Dynamic network models and driver information systems , 1991 .

[11]  Hani S. Mahmassani,et al.  System performance and user response under real-time information in a congested traffic corridor , 1991 .

[12]  J A Lindley,et al.  URBAN FREEWAY CONGESTION: QUANTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM AND EFFECTIVENESS OF POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS , 1987 .

[13]  K. Russam,et al.  INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR DRIVERS , 1984 .

[14]  Kenneth A. Small,et al.  THE SCHEDULING OF CONSUMER ACTIVITIES: WORK TRIPS , 1982 .

[15]  André de Palma,et al.  Dynamic Model of Peak Period Traffic Congestion with Elastic Arrival Rates , 1986, Transp. Sci..

[16]  G. Giuliano INCIDENT CHARACTERISTICS, FREQUENCY, AND DURATION ON A HIGH VOLUME URBAN FREEWAY , 1989 .

[17]  W. Vickrey Congestion Theory and Transport Investment , 1969 .

[18]  G. F. Newell Traffic Flow for the Morning Commute , 1988, Transp. Sci..