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The Importance of Being Early

Author

Listed:
  • Pavithra Parthasarathi
  • Anupam Srivastava
  • Nikolas Geroliminis
  • David Levinson

    (Nexus (Networks, Economics, and Urban Systems) Research Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota)

Abstract

The assumption that the penalty for being early is less than that for being late was put forward by Vickrey (1963) who analyzed how commuters compare penalties in the form of schedule delay (due to peak hour congestion), against penalties in the form of reaching their destination (ahead or behind their desired time of arrival). This assumption has been tested by many researchers since then for various applications, especially in modeling congestion pricing (Arnott et al., 1990) where it is critical to understand the tradeoff between schedule delay and travel delay. Key findings are summarized in the second section of this paper. This research aims to test this hypothesis of earliness being less expensive than lateness using empirical data at different levels and across different regions. New methods to estimate the ratio of earliness to lateness for different types of datasets are developed, which could be used by agencies to implement control policies like congestion pricing or other schemes more accurately. Travel survey data from metropolitan areas provide individual travel patterns while loop detector data provide link level traffic flow data.

Suggested Citation

  • Pavithra Parthasarathi & Anupam Srivastava & Nikolas Geroliminis & David Levinson, 2009. "The Importance of Being Early," Working Papers 201103, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    • Handle: RePEc:nex:wpaper:importanceofbeingearly
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/11299/180009
    File Function: First version, 2009
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David Levinson & Kathleen Harder & John Bloomfield & Kathy Carlson, 2006. "Waiting Tolerance: Ramp Delay vs. Freeway Congestion," Working Papers 200602, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    2. Arnott, R. & de Palma, A. & Lindsey, R., 1990. "Departure time and route choice for the morning commute," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 209-228, June.
    3. Noland, Robert B. & Small, Kenneth A. & Koskenoja, Pia Maria & Chu, Xuehao, 1998. "Simulating travel reliability," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 535-564, September.
    4. Daganzo, Carlos F., 2007. "Urban gridlock: Macroscopic modeling and mitigation approaches," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 49-62, January.
    5. Hollander, Yaron, 2006. "Direct versus indirect models for the effects of unreliability," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 40(9), pages 699-711, November.
    6. Geroliminis, Nikolas & Daganzo, Carlos F., 2008. "Existence of urban-scale macroscopic fundamental diagrams: Some experimental findings," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 759-770, November.
    7. Vickrey, William S, 1969. "Congestion Theory and Transport Investment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(2), pages 251-260, May.
    8. Small, Kenneth A, 1982. "The Scheduling of Consumer Activities: Work Trips," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(3), pages 467-479, June.
    9. Nikolas Geroliminis & David M. Levinson, 2009. "Cordon Pricing Consistent with the Physics of Overcrowding," Springer Books, in: William H. K. Lam & S. C. Wong & Hong K. Lo (ed.), Transportation and Traffic Theory 2009: Golden Jubilee, chapter 0, pages 219-240, Springer.
    10. Nebiyou Tilahun & David Levinson, 2006. "A Moment of Time: Reliability in Route Choice using Stated Preference," Working Papers 201004, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    11. Munoz, Juan Carlos & Daganzo, Carlos F., 2000. "Fingerprinting traffic from static freeway sensors," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt58x856jd, University of California Transportation Center.
    12. Jou, Rong-Chang & Kitamura, Ryuichi & Weng, Mei-Chuan & Chen, Chih-Cheng, 2008. "Dynamic commuter departure time choice under uncertainty," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(5), pages 774-783, June.
    13. Xinkai Wu & David Levinson & Henry Liu, 2008. "Perception of Waiting Time at Signalized Intersections," Working Papers 200909, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    14. David Levinson & Ewa Zofka, 2006. "The Metropolitan Travel Survey Archive: A Case Study in Archiving," Working Papers 200610, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Shanjiang Zhu & David Levinson & Henry Liu, 2017. "Measuring winners and losers from the new I-35W Mississippi River Bridge," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(5), pages 905-918, September.
    2. Lamotte, Raphaël & Geroliminis, Nikolas, 2018. "The morning commute in urban areas with heterogeneous trip lengths," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 117(PB), pages 794-810.
    3. Yang Gao & David Levinson, 2024. "A bifurcation of the peak: new patterns of traffic peaking during the COVID-19 era," Transportation, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 329-349, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Schedule Delay; Travel Time; Traffic; Travel Behavior.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise
    • R42 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government and Private Investment Analysis; Road Maintenance; Transportation Planning
    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles

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