working paper

Commuting Time as a Measure of Employment Costs: Implications for Estimating Labor Supply Elasticities

Publication Date

November 30, 2002

Author(s)

Sarah Dolfin

Areas of Expertise

Transportation Economics, Funding, & Finance Travel Behavior, Land Use, & the Built Environment

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Abstract

Although the neoclassical labor economics literature assumes that hours of work are determined solely on the supply side as a result of individual demand for leisure, an abundance of evidence points to the importance of employer demand factors in the market for hours of work. Despite the appeal of models allowing for simultaneity in the market for hours, the scarcity of appropriate data has made their estimation difficult. In this paper I attempt to incorporate labor demand into the problem of hours determination in an empirically tractable manner by exploiting the theoretically distinct roles played by commuting time at the individual and aggregate levels. Applying instrumental variables techniques to data from the 1990 U.S. Census yields larger cross-sectional wage elasticities of labor supply for both men and women than are generally found using conventional estimation methods.

working paper

Consumer E-Commerce, Virtual Accessibility and Sustainable Transport

Publication Date

November 30, 2002

Author(s)

Jane Gould, Thomas Golob

Areas of Expertise

Freight, Logistics, & Supply Chain Travel Behavior, Land Use, & the Built Environment

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Abstract

The growth of the Internet has rekindled interest in the relationship between communications and travel. New communication technologies have expanded the range, the type, and the number of transactions that can take place without travel. A number of promotions capture the new tradeoffs between communications and travel: initially, the Internet was referred to as “the information superhighway” and Microsoft ran an ad campaign dubbed “where do you want to go today?” The connection between travel and bytes has been summed up as “The Death of Distance” (Cairncross, 1997). A parallel evolution in telecommunication and transportation was envisioned more than 150 years ago with the inventions of the telegraph and telephone. The telephone was expected to “speed the movement of perishable goods,” “reduce the travels of salesmen,” and “let (itinerant) workers stay at home to be phoned for jobs” (Pool, 1983). Today, the Internet has fueled similar expectations, and many of them center on travelrelated issues. The Internet might relieve demand for new road capacity, slow down the rate of new vehicle ownership, and divert existing travel trips to less congested times. The Internet might help create more sustainable growth in transportation, by providing virtual accessibility. In this paper, we explore the transportation aspects of consumer electronic commerce (e-commerce). Shopping activities are currently automobileintensive in many countries, and increases in e-commerce could portend important changes in transportation patterns and activities.

working paper

Impacts of the San Diego Photo Red Light Enforcement System on Traffic Safety

Publication Date

November 13, 2002

Author(s)

Jacqueline Golob, Thomas Golob

Areas of Expertise

Safety, Public Health, & Mobility Justice

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Abstract

The paper reports on the analysis of violation and crash data as part of an evaluation of the impact on traffic safety of the San Diego Photo Red Light Enforcement System. The system was found to have resulted in a statistically significant reduction in the number of red light running violations. The decreases in violations occurred at almost all camera enforced intersections and the decreases continued, at a diminishing rate, throughout the period the cameras were operated. The impact on traffic safety was more complex. For traffic traveling in the enforced direction at intersections with red light cameras, crashes attributable to red light running decreased after implementation to approximately 60 percent of pre-enforcement rates, while rear end crashes increased to approximately 140 percent of pre-implementation levels. These before-and-after changes in crash rates were statistically significant, while there were no significant changes in crash rates for traffic traveling in directions not covered by the red light cameras. In addition, it is concluded that photo enforcement was more effective in reducing crashes at intersections where through movement was enforced, than where left turns were enforced.

Phd Dissertation

Economic spillovers of highway investment: A case study of the employment impacts of Interstate 105 in Los Angeles County.

Publication Date

November 4, 2002

Author(s)

Saksith (Tan) Chalermpong

Areas of Expertise

Transportation Economics, Funding, & Finance Travel Behavior, Land Use, & the Built Environment

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Abstract

Most economists agree that new investments in highways at this point in time in the United States have little impact on overall growth in output. New highways play a more important role in shifting economic activities among places, drawing jobs from other locations into the highway corridors, a phenomenon known as negative spillovers. The objective of this dissertation is two-fold, to examine the proposal to decentralize highway finance, which aims to solve the financial responsibility mismatch problem that stems from economic spillovers of highways, and to test the hypothesis of economic spillovers of highway investment at the metropolitan level. First, to better understand how spillovers influence the highway investment decision, the theoretical framework from the interjurisdictional tax competition literature is borrowed to model governments’ investment behaviors. Numerical simulations show that decentralized local governments, which independently maximize output in their own jurisdiction, may engage in wasteful investments in highways with the presence of spillovers. Second, to shed more light on the spatial detail of economic spillovers, empirical tests of the spillover hypothesis are conducted at the metropolitan level, with census tracts as the unit of observation. The results of the quasi-experiment reveal census tract employment growth patterns that confirm the existence of negative spillovers caused by the opening of the Interstate 105 in 1993. The benefiting area, which grew substantially after the highway was opened, is limited to a long narrow corridor around the highway, while nearby locations outside the corridor experienced slow growth relative to the rest of the metropolitan area after controlling for various factors. Together, these results suggest that although negative spillovers are present at the metropolitan level, decentralizing highway finance may not be an effective policy to deal with the financial responsibility mismatch problem. Highway finance should remain centralized within metropolitan areas, and regional governing bodies should pay special attention to the distributional impact of highway projects.

working paper

Trucking Industry Preferences for Driver Traveler Information Using Wireless Internet-enabled Devices

Publication Date

November 4, 2002

Author(s)

Thomas Golob, Amelia Regan

Areas of Expertise

Freight, Logistics, & Supply Chain

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Abstract

If truck drivers could use internet-enabled wireless devices to access traveler information, what type of information would they most want to have? The answer almost surely varies according to the type of trucking operation, location, and many other factors. We analyzed preferences for traveler information from managers of 700 trucking companies to determine how they valued information about such things as locations of freeway incidents and lane closures, port and rail terminal schedules and clearances, delays at terminal train arrivals at grade crossings, weather, and travel times at alternative routes. Using a factor-analytic model with regressor variables, we found clear differences in preferences across types of trucking operations.

working paper

Impacts Of The San Diego Photo Red Light Enforcement System On Traffic Safety

Publication Date

October 31, 2002

Author(s)

Jacqueline Golob, Thomas Golob

Areas of Expertise

Safety, Public Health, & Mobility Justice

View working paper

Abstract

The paper reports on the analysis of violation and crash data as part of an evaluation of the impact on traffic safety of the San Diego Photo Red Light Enforcement System. The system was found to have resulted in a statistically significant reduction in the number of red light running violations. The decreases in violations occurred at almost all camera enforced intersections and the decreases continued, at a diminishing rate, throughout the period the cameras were operated. The impact on traffic safety was more complex. For traffic traveling in the enforced direction at intersections with red light cameras, crashes attributable to red light running decreased after implementation to approximately 60 percent of pre-enforcement rates, while rear end crashes increased to approximately 140 percent of pre-implementation levels. These before-and-after changes in crash rates were statistically significant, while there were no significant changes in crash rates for traffic traveling in directions not covered by the red light cameras. In addition, it is concluded that photo enforcement was more effective in reducing crashes at intersections where through movement was enforced, than where left turns were enforced.

working paper

Putting Behavior in Household Travel Behavior Data: An Interactive GIS-Based Survey via the Internet

Publication Date

September 30, 2002

Author(s)

Michael McNally, Ming-Sheng Lee

Areas of Expertise

Travel Behavior, Land Use, & the Built Environment

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Abstract

This two-year project focused on obtaining travel behavior data that more truly reflects underlying behavior. In the first year of the project a prototype of REACT!, a web-based, self-administered survey instrument for collecting household travel/activity data was produced.REACT! documents not only the resultant behavior but also the scheduling process that produces that behavior by having each respondent record activities as they are initially planned, updated, and executed. In the second year, following a beta test of REACT! and final program modification, a formal REACT! field study was completed for 47 households who used REACT! to provide 24 hours of travel/activity data over a 7 day period. Ensuing analyses focused on the activity scheduling process.

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iCHASE: An Internet Computerized Household Activity Scheduling Elicitor Survey

working paper

Understanding and Modeling Driver Behavior in Dense Traffic Flow

Publication Date

September 30, 2002

Author(s)

Michael Zhang

Areas of Expertise

Infrastructure Delivery, Operations, & Resilience Travel Behavior, Land Use, & the Built Environment

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Abstract

We present in this report a new car-following theory that can reproduce both the so-called capacity drop and traffic hysteresis, two prominent features of multi-phase vehicular traffic flow. This is achieved through the introduction of a single variable, driver response time, that depends on both vehicle spacing and traffic motion. By specifying different functional forms of response time, one can obtain not only brand new theories but also some of the well-known old car-following theories, which is demonstrated in this report through both theoretical analyses and numerical simulation.

working paper

Trucking Industry Adoption of Information Technology: A Structural Multivariate Probit Model

Publication Date

August 31, 2002

Author(s)

Thomas Golob, Amelia Regan

Areas of Expertise

Intelligent Transportation Systems, Emerging Technologies, & Big Data

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Abstract

The objective of this research is to understand the demand for information technology among trucking companies. A multivariate discrete choice model is estimated on data from a large-scale survey of the trucking industry in California. This model is designed to identify the influences of each of twenty operational characteristics on the propensity to adopt each of seven different information technologies, while simultaneously allowing the seven error terms to be freely correlated. Results showed that the distinction between for-hire and private fleets is paramount, as is size of the fleet and the provision of intermodal maritime and air services.

working paper

Studying Road Pricing Policy with Panel Data Analysis: The San Diego I-15 HOT Lanes

Publication Date

August 31, 2002

Author(s)

Jacqueline Golob, Thomas Golob

Areas of Expertise

Transportation Economics, Funding, & Finance Travel Behavior, Land Use, & the Built Environment

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Abstract

A three-year experiment is underway in San Diego County, California that allows solo drivers to pay a fee to use “Express Lanes” i.e. carpool lanes to avoid an eighty-mile highly congested stretch of freeway. These lanes are also commonly referred to as High Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lanes. The facility has two reversible lanes in the freeway median separated by concrete barriers from the I-15 main lanes with access available only at the two end points. Tolls charged commonly range from $.50 to $4.00 per trip but in exceptionally congested conditions can go as high as $8. Fees charged can change dynamically every six minutes to reflect changing traffic in the carpool lanes. Changeable message signs post the price. The algorithm controlling the prices is adjusted to maintain free flow conditions in the carpool lanes at all times. Carpools of two or more persons retain free travel. Subscribers who chose to use the lanes are charged the posted toll using transponder technology and monthly credit-card billing. The opening hours for the Express Lanes are 5:45 to 9:15 a.m. inbound to San Diego and 3:00 – 7:00 p.m. outbound from San Diego.