Empirical Examination on Variation of Value of Travel Time and Its Application to Benefit Analysis

Value of travel time (VOTT) is a key factor in cost benefit analysis for transport projects, since benefit of time saving overshadows other benefit. Although it is clear that value of travel time varies according to travelers and travel environments, this value has often been often assumed as a constant in its applications for the sake of analytical convenience. In this paper discrete route choice model, which is easy to catch the variation of value of travel time, is used to conclude the relationship between value of travel time and travel time. A nationwide stated preference survey provides the data source for this analysis. This paper also makes an attempt to apply the evaluated variable value of travel time to benefit analysis of transport projects. A comparison between benefits calculated from the variable value of travel time and fixed values confirms that fixed value of time may produce a substantial bias.