The value of time and reliability: measurement from a value pricing experiment

We measure values of time and reliability from 1998 data on actual behavior of commuters on State Route 91 in Orange County, California, where they ch oose between a free and a variably tolled route. For each route at each tim e of day and for each day of the week, the distribution of travel times acr oss different weeks is measured using loop detector data. The best-fitting models represent travel-time by its median, and unreliability by the differ ence between the 90th percentile and the median. We present models of route choice both alone and combined with other choices, namely time of day, car occupancy, and installation of an electronic transponder. In our best mode l, containing all these choices except time of day, value of time (VOT) is $22.87 per hour, while value of reliability is $15.12 per hour for men and $31.91 for women. These values are 72%, 48%, and 101%, respectively, of the average wage rate in our sample. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.