CIRJE-J-30. Yamaga, Hisaki and Tatsuo Hatta, "Estimation of Fatigue Cost of Commuting Congestion and Optimal Congestion Fare", August 2000.

This paper has three aims.

First, we estimate a hedonic housing rent function along the Chuo Line in Tokyo with (i) commuting time distance and (ii) congestion degree as explanatory variables.

Second, from the hedonic rent function thus estimated, we measure time cost and fatigue cost of commuting in terms of Equivalent Variation. We show that the fatigue cost of commuting is 5-29% of total commuting cost.

Third, from the fatigue cost thus estimated, we measure marginal external congestion cost of an additional passenger at the peak rush hour. This marginal external congestion cost is interpreted as optimal congestion toll. The result indicates that the optimal congestion toll for the most congested time is 1-3 times the current commuter-pass fare depending upon the train line segment.