Equitable tolling : a case study on Sioux Falls

Congestion pricing is used as a method around the world to eliminate congestion in cities while generating benefits for the system in terms of revenue, reduced pollution, etc. Since the 1970s more cities around the world have adopted tolling and congestion pricing schemes. These can vary from congestion free lanes to cordon tolls to distance-based tolls, but the goal is to generate one of the aforementioned benefits for the cities were these systems are introduced. As these schemes have become more prevalent the question of how equitable they are has become more important. Many users are opposed to congestion pricing schemes because they feel that they limit their freedom. Others are concerned with how benefits are distributed with many arguing that tolls are only beneficial for the fraction of the population that is able to afford them. This thesis is split into two parts: the first examines the history and implementation of congestion pricing schemes around the world and discusses how equity in congestion pricing has been taken into consideration over the last twenty years. The second part of the thesis is a case study on the Sioux Falls network. Several cordon tolls are applied to the network at increasing toll charges. To test whether these tolls provide an equitable alternative to the most disadvantaged parts of the population, the single-class and multi-class traffic assignment problem is solved with and without these tolls. Several measures are collected from this and an analysis is done to determine what toll configuration provides the most equitable benefits to the disadvantaged population.