Urban Partnership Agreement and Congestion Reduction Demonstration Programs

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing this collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. 14. ABSTRACT This paper presents lessons learned from household traveler surveys administered in Seattle and Atlanta as part of the evaluation of the Urban Partnership Agreement and Congestion Reduction Demonstration Programs. The surveys use a two-stage panel survey approach to analyze the impacts of the federally sponsored variable tolling programs on corridor users' daily travel choices and opinions. Key lessons learned are that pricing does influence travel behavior (as expected), particularly with respect to route choice and the timing of trips. Pricing does not appear to have a noticeable impact on telecommuting, and impacts on mode choice and occupancy depend on the design of the tolling project and the regional context. In addition, the surveys found that travelers utilizing the priced facility notice and appreciate the improvement to traffic conditions and that attitudes toward tolling change with direct experience. The key implications of these lessons learned are that: near term shifts in mode or carpool size require programmatic support; public communication and community involvement are critical; and regional factors influence public attitudes toward tolling.