Based on Vickrey’s bottleneck model, we propose an activity-based bottleneck model to study traffic congestion on freeways during holidays. Based on the activity-based bottleneck model, we study the bottleneck ladder charging problem under the linear marginal activity utility and compare it with the traditional bottleneck model. Compared with the activity-based bottleneck model, the traditional bottleneck model overestimates the queue delay at the bottleneck, the level of step charging, and the start and end time of peak hours. Therefore, the activity-based step charging method disperses the traffic pressure on peak sections to a certain extent, avoiding traffic accidents caused by the transition period between charging and free.