A Traffic Congestion Pricing Model for Eminonu District

Abstract

An investigation on applicability of a congestion pricing scheme to the Eminonu District, which is subject to heavy traffic problems in the Historical Peninsula of Istanbul, has been conducted. The area borders are set; field studies are performed to determine speed-flow characteristics of the roads and the demand function for automobile users. Akcelik and MTC speed-flow models are found suitable to represent the area's traffic. A computer program is developed to assess the optimum toll under many different conditions with higher sensitivity. As a result, optimum congestion toll rates for different scenarios are calculated and it is concluded that the congestion pricing application would have a decreasing effect on the automobile road traffic of 15-40% and increase the mean traffic speed approximately 15-25 km/h.