We examine the profit-maximising behaviour of a private firm that operates a toll road competing against a free alternative in the presence of cars and trucks. Trucks differ from cars in their value of time (VOT), the congestion externalities they generate, the pavement damage they cause, and their link travel time functions. We consider mixed travel behaviours where trucks choose routes deterministically, while car route choice is characterised by stochastic user equilibrium. Our results suggest that the perception error of car users, VOT of both types of users, traffic composition, and differences in travel distance between the two roads are critical determinants of the profit-maximising strategy.
Xu et al. (Wed,) studied this question.