Examining the Value of Travel Time Reliability for Freight Transportation to Support Freight Planning and Decision-Making

016244052016PDFTech ReportBDV29-977-15DTRT12GUTC12Travel timeFreight serviceFreight transportationOn time performanceValue of TimeValue of ReliabilityFreightUser HeterogeneityWillingness-to-payPlanning FrameworkFloridaUnited StatesNational Center for Transportation Systems Productivity and Management (U.S.)Jin, XiaShams, KollolFlorida International UniversityNational Center for Transportation Systems Productivity and Management (U.S.)Florida. Dept. of TransportationUnited States. Department of Transportation. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and TechnologyUS Transportation CollectionThis report presents the findings of a valuation study recently conducted in Florida to quantify the freight users\u2019 willingness to pay (WTP) for the improvement of transportation-related attributes, particularly reliability. A stated preference (SP) survey was developed and administered between January and May 2016. The survey collected responses from 150 shippers, carriers, and forwarders. After rigorous data checking and validation, econometric models, including mixed and multinomial logit models, were developed to estimate the users\u2019 WTP for the improvement of transportation time and reliability. Preference heterogeneity in WTP was also explored by commodity group, product type, and various other shipment characteristics, including shipping distance and weight.Model results indicated that the value of reliability (VOR) values ranged from $17.00 to $177.00 per shipment-hour and $1.38 to $10.20 per ton-hour, while the value of time (VOT) values ranged from $12.00 to $277.00 per shipment-hour and $0.50 to $23.00 per ton-hour among the user groups. Carriers were found with the lowest WTP compared to other freight users. The results showed large variations in WTP values when user heterogeneity sources were considered. This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence in quantifying VOR for freight transportation and the impacts of user heterogeneity on the valuation of reliability. The study results will help advance the understanding of the impacts of the performance of transportation systems on the freight industry. The report also provided a brief discussion on the approaches to incorporating VOR in the benefit-cost analysis (BCA) for project evaluation and accommodating the effect of unreliability into demand models