Evaluation of the payback period and traffic impact at Toll stations

Abstract

In this research, the authors evaluate the impact of toll stations in an expressway in Vietnam in terms of payback period and local traffic impact at the toll stations. Based on reference to unit prices for tickets passing through the Bac Hai Van toll station currently being applied, the research applies the financial analysis criteria to evaluate the the payback periods under considering the various traffic flow, traffic composition, interest rates, etc. The research results show that payback periods depend significantly on Benefits (represented by traffic volume, traffic composition and toll fares) and the Discount rate (r(%)). Research results show that when the discount rate decreases, the payback period decreases, while when the discount rate increases, the payback period increases. On the contrary, traffic volume and composition have an inverse effect on payback time. The simulation result on VISSIM shows that, there is a local traffic flow delay at the toll station. Using ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) will improve 46,85% of travel time passing the toll station compared to the case of using MTC (Manual Toll Collection).

Keywords: BOT toll station; payback period; traffic simulation.