Kazuya Kawamura

PERCEIVED VALUE OF TIME FOR TRUCK OPERATORS

Value of time for trucks was estimated from stated preference data collected in California. Truckers were asked about a choice between an existing free road versus a toll facility for different combinations of travel time and cost. Estimation was based on the point of diversion at which the switch of facility occurred in the stated preference questions and also on the use of a modified logit model in which the coefficients to be estimated were assumed to be distributed lognormally across the population. Comparisons between data sets that were segmented according to business type, shipment size, and the method of driver compensation indicated that for-hire trucks tend to have higher values of time than private ones and the companies that pay drivers hourly wages have higher values of time than those who pay commissions or fixed salary.

Hedonic Analysis of Impacts of Traffic Volumes on Property Values

This research attempts to quantify the cumulative impacts of vehicle traffic, both passenger cars and trucks, by using the hedonic price analysis of the relationship between property values and the traffic along selected arterial corridors in Chicago, Illinois. The traffic characteristics are derived from the traffic counts data obtained from the City of Chicago and include average daily traffic, maximum daily peak, and nighttime volumes, calculated separately for trucks and for total traffic. Autoregressive models, with assessed property value as the dependent variable and traffic characteristics along with other determinants of property value as the independent variables, are constructed. The models include a spatial-lag term to control for the spatial autocorrelation and are estimated using the two-stage least squares. The regression results from the final models suggest that although the characteristics for total traffic have modest but statistically significant impact on property values, the traffic ...

A behavioral analysis of freight mode choice decisions

This paper develops a behavioral analysis of freight mode choice decisions that could provide a basis for an acceptable analytical tool for policy assessment. The paper specifically examines the way that truck and rail compete for commodity movement in the US. Two binary mode choice models are introduced in which some shipment-specific variables (e.g. distance, weight and value) and mode-specific variables (e.g. haul time and cost) are found to be determinants. The specifications of the non-selected choice are imputed in a machine learning module. Shipping cost is found to be a central factor for rail shipments, while road shipments are found to be more sensitive to haul time. Sensitivity of mode choice decisions is further analyzed under different fuel price fluctuation scenarios. A low level of mode choice sensitivity is found with respect to fuel price, such that even a 50% increase in fuel cost does not cause a significant modal shift between truck and rail.

A Behavioral Freight Movement Microsimulation Model: Method and Data

Abstract The framework of freight demand modeling has been the conventional four-step approach, in the past. Activity-based models that better capture the behavior and decision-making process are emerging in the passenger travel modeling to address the drawbacks of the four-step approach. This paper proposes an activity-based freight modeling framework and discuses its data needs. The framework consists of five modules: firm generation, supply chain replication, shipment forecasting, logistic decisions, and network analysis. Similar to the activity-based approach in the passenger travel modeling, in which individuals or households are the agents of the models, individual firms or a group of firms with similar characteristics, are the main players in the proposed framework. Public data sources that could be used in the U.S. to make this framework running are also introduced and a supplementary establishment survey is proposed as a cost-effective way to satisfy the data needs of the framework.

Empirical examination of relationship between firm location and transportation facilities

The locations and profiles of firms in the six-county Chicago, Illinois, region were used to compare the businesses’ proximities to freeway ramps and transit stations for two time periods: 1981 and 1999. A series of regression models was constructed to assess whether the location patterns with respect to transportation facilities have changed over the last two decades. The data suggest that, controlling for exogenous factors, businesses have moved closer to freeway ramps in the last two decades. Meanwhile, the distance to transit stations has not changed except in the city of Chicago, where it has decreased. These findings suggest shifts in location choice behaviors in the urban core and the suburbs. Specifically, firms in the urban core areas are valuing access to rail stations to a greater degree, whereas those in the suburbs are placing more importance on proximity to freeway ramps. The concentration of businesses near expressway ramps in the inner and middle suburbs suggests the emergence of a pattern in those areas that corresponds to a polycentric development, with freeway ramps as the focal points. Finally, the findings indicate a shift, not a decrease, in the importance of transportation access for business location choice.

Evaluation of Delivery Consolidation in U.S. Urban Areas with Logistics Cost Analysis

One of the most promising strategies for reducing truck traffic in urban centers is the consolidation of consignments through cooperation and coordination among multiple businesses. However, various factors—including existing infrastructure systems, institutional and regulatory environments, socioeconomic and geographical characteristics, political climates, past and future changes in logistics and supply chain management, and market forces—will determine whether such a strategy can be adopted and function effectively in the United States. In this paper, the cost-effectiveness of a common type of consolidation scheme used in foreign countries is examined against the peddle-run system commonly used in the United States. The analysis results indicate that the current U.S. distribution system has substantial cost advantages. Demographic factors, population density, and urban area size, while having some effect on the logistics cost under the consolidation system, do not reverse the cost advantage of the peddle-run system within the range tested. The advantage of the peddle-run system will not be overcome without drastic policy changes, the imposition of truck size and weight restrictions, or investments in public terminals.

Exploring the Influence of Urban Form on Work Travel Behavior with Agent-Based Modeling

This paper examines the effect of land use regulations on travel behavior by using agent-based modeling. A simulation model for a hypothetical urban area loosely based on the Chicago, Illinois, metropolitan area was used to study the impact of six land use regulation scenarios on transit use and urban form. The key features and techniques of the model development and the scenarios tested are described. The results from the simulations showed that although the land use regulations that were designed to increase the density near the transit station or in and near the urban core were able to achieve the intended land use patterns, they did not increase the transit mode share for the region in a significant manner. More detailed examination of the output revealed that as long as the rules for mode choice, the distribution of employment, and the transit network remained unchanged, land use regulations that affect residential locations produced limited effects on transit use.

Perceived Benefits of Congestion Pricing for Trucks

Empirically derived value-of-time distributions are used to calculate the perceived benefits from the time saved by trucks in using toll lanes. The conditions on the SR-91 congestion pricing facility in California are used in a case study. Assuming that the value of time for trucks is lognormally distributed, the probabilistic truck mode share for the toll lanes was estimated separately for in-house and for-hire trucks. The mean values of time for toll-lane users and nonusers were estimated using Monte Carlo simulations. The benefits were calculated as the value of travel time savings that accrue for both toll-lane users and nonusers. The analyses found that the opening of the congestion pricing facility in 1995 has resulted in more than

Integrating supply chain management concept in a goods movement microsimulation

2 million in annual savings for trucks. Trucks would realize an added

Comparison of Urban Cooperative Delivery and Direct Delivery Strategies

660,000 annually if the toll lanes were open to trucks. The disproportional share of the benefit goes to a few trucks with very high values of time, especially when the toll is expensive. Also, forhire trucks receive, on average, greater benefit than in-house carriers because of higher values of time.