Congestion and scheduling preferences of car commuters in California: estimates using big data

Jinwon Kim and Jucheol Moon

Journal of Economic Geography, 2024, vol. 24, issue 1, 145-170

Abstract: This article estimates commuters’ scheduling utility function, which comprises the disutility of arriving at work earlier or later than desired (namely, the schedule-delay cost) and the disutility of travel time. The marginal rate of substitution (MRS) between the schedule delay and the travel time is about 0.85, meaning that commuters are willing to accept an extra schedule delay of about 1.2 time units (the reciprocal of 0.85) to reduce their travel time by 1 unit. For most travelers, the slope of the travel-time profile is much smaller than the estimated slope of the indifference curve (MRS). Based on our theoretical framework, where commuters choose a trip timing based on their travel-time profiles, our empirical results imply that commuters tend to arrive around their desired times bearing a small schedule-delay cost.

Keywords: congestion; scheduling utility; big data; machine learning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C25 C8 H21 R41 R48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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