Citation

Hensher DA, Sullivan C. Transp. Res. D Trans. Environ. 2003; 8(2): 139-155.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study investigates the influence that two road design features, road type and curviness, has in the supply of additional user benefits, especially benefits with a safety dimension. A method is developed to value curviness (winding versus non-winding) and road type (2-lane, 4-lane without a median, and 4-lane with a wide grass median). These features are linked to the safety of the road environment, providing information on how much individuals are willing to pay to reduce exposure to risk in the driving environment when trading between mixtures of curviness and road type. A stated choice experiment was designed in which car and truck drivers undertaking regional and inter-urban trips out of six New Zealand cities evaluated alternative trip profiles in terms of travel times and costs in addition to curviness and road type, and chose one of the trip profiles as the most preferred. New evidence is also provided on how much drivers are willing to pay to reduce the incidence of tailgating on the open road and additional evidence on valuation of travel time savings.

RESULTS show that the provision of additional lanes and the straightening out of existing roads will create user benefits additional to those traditionally captured through travel time savings.

KEYWORDS:
Costs; Crash exposure; Four lane highways; Highway curves; Highway design; Highway safety; Medians; Stated preferences; Tailgating; Travel time; Two lane highways; User benefits; Close following

Language: en