Research On Optimization Model Of Expressway Toll Rates

Nowadays expressways in China are gradually maturing from "construction period" to "management period". With the implementation of the general policy, the question how to enact expressway toll rates caused widespread concern in all sectors of society. Formerly in the formulation of toll rates, "the emphasis on economic benefits, the neglect of social benefits," was a widespread phenomenon, which hindered the sustainable development of expressway. Therefore, analyzing formulation of toll rates systematically has a great theoretical and practical significance as to encouraging the expressway construction investment, improving the effective distribution of social resources, and promoting a coordinated development in socio-economic areas.This paper uses some theories such as transportation economics, fee management theory, management systems, and public pricing theory to summarize the expressway nature of public goods and private good, discuss attributes transformation under different conditions, stress that the expressway must be given adequate attention to the nature of public goods, in order to ensure their social and economic benefits to full play. Meanwhile, there is in-depth analysis of the main factors of expressway toll rates and their effects. Comprehensive compared of different toll rates calculation methods, we decide to build a optimization model based on the theory of bi-level programming. Additionally, Chongqing-Yichang expressway (Wanzhou to Wushan ) has been taken as an example to test and verify the practicability of the expressway toll rates optimization model. Calculation results show that the method is feasible, and can provide the basis for the formulation of toll rates in the future.