LEE COUNTY VARIABLE PRICING - EARLY FINDINGS

In an effort to manage traffic congestion, variable pricing began August 3, 1998, on two heavily traveled toll bridges in Lee County, Florida. Bridge travelers can now receive a 50% discount on their toll by traveling during specific discount periods - 6:30 am to 7:00 am, 9:00 am to 11:00 am, 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, and 6:30 pm to 7:00 pm. This project is one of the few variable tolling projects in the United States and is part of the Federal Highway Administration's Value Pricing Pilot Program. As such, user response to variable pricing, and the resulting impacts on traffic, are being carefully monitored. This paper presents some early findings in the Lee County Variable Pricing Project, including traffic data analysis and user surveys. Traffic before variable pricing began was compared to traffic patterns with variable pricing under way. Data include detailed transaction records of each vehicle using either of the two bridges, toll plaza queues, average vehicle occupancies, and transit usage. Additionally, detailed speed studies were performed to determine if drivers are significantly altering their speed in order to obtain the toll discount. One user survey, a roadside survey taken prior to variable pricing, was analyzed using linear regression and multinomial logit modeling. This survey provides insight into the characteristics of variable pricing users and their primary reasons for participating - or choosing not to participate. The paper then summarizes what has been found during this early phase of the Lee County variable pricing project and details the data collection efforts that are still to be performed.