The economic theory behind congestion pricing relies on using the revenues to help compensate highway users. But can practical methods of using revenues come close to achieving this compensation, and still have salient appeal to important political groups? This paper investigates the...

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 debate over the empirical underpinnings of urban economic models is emerging under the unlikely rubric of "wasteful commuting." Hamilton (1982) shows that a commonly used monocentric model, in which employment and population densities decline exponentially from a center, greatly underpredicts...

When a firm or public authority prices output at marginal cost, its profits are related to the degree of local economies of scale in its cost function. As is well known, this result extends to the case where some congestion-prone inputs are supplied by users. I show that contrary to common...

We investigate employment subcenters in the Los Angeles region using’1980 Census journey-towork data. A simple subcenter definition is used, based solely on gross employment density and total employment. We find a surprising dominance of downtown Los Angeles and three large subcenters...

Traffic congestion is a classic externality, especially pervasive in urban areas. The theoretical and empirical relationships governing it have been thoroughly studied. As a result, most urban economists and a growing number of other policy analysts agree that the best policy to deal with it...

This paper reports results from evaluations of two recent road pricing demonstrations in Southern California. These demonstration projects provide particularly useful opportunities for measuring commuters’ values of time and reliability. Unlike most revealed preference studies of value of...

Rising demand for parking at suburban transit stations, such as the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District in California, necessitates strategies to manage traveler demand. To better manage parking supply, researchers implemented a smart parking field test at the Rockridge BART station from 2004...