An analysis of travel behavior and willingness to pay on Express Lanes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

In March 2020, governments worldwide implemented various social restriction measures, including lockdowns, to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This led to a profound shift in travel behavior, accompanied by a notable reduction in congestion. This paper investigates travel demand on Express Lanes during two time periods: before the pandemic (from January 2020 to mid-March 2020) and during the pandemic (from mid-March 2020 to the end of May 2020). A large data set of trips observed on Express Lanes derived from transponders is combined with vehicle probe measures of travel times and used to estimate the willingness to pay to travel on Express Lanes. The analysis reveals that not all Express Lane assets are equal, with the longer Express Lane demonstrating better performance than the shorter one. Peak hours experienced a more significant impact than off-peak hours, reflecting the heightened flexibility in travelers' schedules during the pandemic. The proposed econometric model quantifies the increase in willingness to pay for Express Lanes, which went up to $36 and $34 per hour on the two assets from the values of $26 and $28 per hour estimated before the pandemic, which can be justified by the observed lower market shares during the pandemic.