Equilibrium at a Bottleneck when Long- Run and Short-Run Scheduling Preferences diverge

We consider equilibrium and optimum use of a Vickrey road bottleneck, distinguishing between long-run and short-run scheduling preferences in an otherwise stylized scheduling model. The preference structure reflects that there is a distinction between the (exogenous) ’long-run preferred arrival time’, which would be relevant if consumers were unconstrained in the scheduling of their activities, versus the ’shortrun preferred arrival time’, which is the result of an adaptation of travel routines in the face of constraints caused by, in particular, time-varying congestion levels. We characterize the unpriced equilibrium, the social optimum as well as second-best situations where the availability of the pricing instruments is restricted. All of them imply a dispersed distribution of short-run preferred arrival times. The extent of dispersion in the unpriced equilibrium, however, is higher than socially optimal. ∗Corresponding author (E-mail: [email protected])