Minimal-revenue congestion pricing Part II: An efficient algorithm for the general case

The second of a two-part series, this paper derives an efficient solution to the minimal-revenue tolls problem. As introduced in Part I, this problem can be defined as follows: Assuming each trip uses only a path whose generalized cost is smallest, find a set of are tolls that simultaneously minimizes both average travel time and out-of-pocket cost. As a point of departure, this paper first re-solves the single-origin problem of Part I, modeling it as a linear program. Then with a change of variable, it transforms the LP's dual into a simple longest-path problem on an acyclic network. The multiple-origin problem - where one toll for each are applies to all origins - solves analogously. In this case, however, the dual becomes an elementary linear multi-commodity max-cost flow problem with an easy bundling constraint and infinite are capacities. After a minor reformulation that simplifies the model's input to better accommodate output from common traffic assignment software, a solution algorithm is exemplified with a numerical example. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.