Valuing Travel Time and Its Variation Level Projected as Traffic Information on a Roadside VMS Board : A SP Approach

The authors discuss how trip makers' route choice behavior is influenced by travel time valuation and variation levels on a road side variable message sign (VMS) board's instantaneous traffic information. The authors study two types of trip makers - taxi and private car - in two Kolkata Metro City, India competitive taxi traffic corridors. Both random parameter logit (RPL) and multinomial logit (MNL) models are used to capture responses for travel time and its variation level values estimation through a stated preference (choice based) experiment. Two RPL model types are developed assuming random parameters constrained triangular distribution: one with random parameter mean (i.e. travel time) surrounded by accounting heterogeneity and the other with independent choice sets. Valuing different levels of variation shows non-linearity existence. The authors note that mean travel time estimation heterogeneity is decomposed through trip purpose and family income.