Estimation of the Fatigue Cost Caused by with Commuting Congestion

Research Project

Project/Area Number	09630027
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	Economic statistics
Research Institution	THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO (1999) Osaka University (1997-1998)
Principal Investigator	HATTA Tatsuo Center For Spatial Information Science, University of Tokyo, Professor, 空間情報科学研究センター, 教授 (70008647)
Project Period (FY)	1997 – 1999
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 1999)
Budget Amount *help	¥2,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,700,000) Fiscal Year 1999: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000) Fiscal Year 1998: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000) Fiscal Year 1997: ¥1,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000)
Keywords	commuting congestion / fatigue cost / congestion / rent / 地価 / 人口密度分布
Research Abstract	The purpose of this research is to estimate the monetary value of fatigue caused by congestion of commuting train ride in Tokyo. As the congestion of train increases, so does the fatigue caused by the journey. We constructed a Mills type urban model with a utility function that has the degree of congestion as a variable. We derived a rent function as the solution of this model. The independent variables of the rent function are the distance of the location from the CBD and the degree of congestion. Using this function, we conducted two research projects. In the first research, we run regressions of this rent function using the data along the Chuo Line in Tokyo. Based on this, we estimated the parameters of the utility function, and then the social cost of congestion. In the second re search, we run regressions of this function using the data for multiple commuter trains in Tokyo, each of which has different degrees of congestion. We estimated the fatigue cost separately for each line. The difference in the degree of congestion among deferent lines is far larger than the difference among different segments of the Chuo Line. For this reason, we were able to obtain statistically more significant results in the second research. Our estimates show, for example, that the fatigue cost of a one-way trip from Mukougaoka-yuen (travel time 30 minutes) is 376 yen, while the time cost is 322 yen.