Optimal locations of toll stations in a road pricing system : an investigation into the feasibility of optimization methods

The feasibility and effectiveness of the Dutch road pricing strategy is being investigated since many problems have to be solved before a road pricing system can be introduced. One crucial problem is the design of the system in a spatial sense: where to locate the toll stations and in relation to that decision what toll level to charge? This design problem is complicated. This report presents the results of an exploratory investigation of the potential of a bilevel programming method, with the government at the upper decision making level and the individual travellers at the lower level, giving insight into the main effects of certain choices of locations and toll levels. This report consists of a short summary and the following papers by David E. Boyce and Larry J. LeBlanc : Alternative formulations of the upper and lower problems of the bilevel program ; Analysis of the mathematical structure of bilevel programs of the road pricing problem ; An overview of bilevel programming models and solution algorithms ; Sollution algorithms for the upper and lower programs for the Dutch road pricing problem.