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German-Turkish Perspectives on IT and Innovation Management pp 249–266Cite as

Driver’s Choice and System Outcomes in Congested Traffic Networks

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Abstract

Our study is investigating the effects of spatial orientation in the representative scenario of congested traffic in the Zurich metropolitan area. Each driver has planned his itinerary with the help of an off-the-shelf navigation device and sticks to his shortest route. The research question is: How much will the traffic situation improve if part of the drivers use real-time navigation information (such as may be available via smartphone)?

We assume that the population of the drivers is divided into the class of non-informed drivers with static knowledge and deterministic behavior, and into the class of informed drivers with dynamic knowledge and stochastic behavior. The non-informed drivers move along the route they perceived as the shortest one when starting their trip. The informed drivers head for their destination dynamically by choosing the currently most advantageous link at each traffic node on their trip. The decisions of the informed drivers will be mapped and microscopically simulated using the MATSim software. An informed driver’s decision is based on the random utility in favor of a route. The utility function takes into account three properties: the travel time on the route, the confidence in the information, and the risk attitude according to the drivers mode of behavior.

Our experiments reveal differences in respect of the load on the road network and the mean daily travel times of the drivers. The key result is that all drivers benefit even when only part of them navigate by using current traffic information. Further results quantify the time savings that each of the two classes of drivers achieves, and also how the entirety of drivers benefit from certain shares of informed drivers. Our analysis also shows the variation of descriptive and normative behavior in respect of route choice. The scenario’s estimated saving potential of about 25 percent can be exploited if the informed drivers behave in a disciplined manner and follow the recommended links.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. FOM University of Applied Sciences, Stuttgart, Germany

    Prof. Dr. Siegfried Weinmann

  2. Institute for Transport Planning and Systems, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Prof. Dr. Kay W. Axhausen

  3. Senozon AG, Zurich, Switzerland

    Dr. Christoph Dobler

Authors
  1. Prof. Dr. Siegfried Weinmann
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  2. Prof. Dr. Kay W. Axhausen
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  3. Dr. Christoph Dobler
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Siegfried Weinmann .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Atatürk Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi, Yakutiye/Erzurum, Turkey

    Fehim Bakırcı

  2. FOM Hochschule für Oekonomie & Management , Essen, Germany

    Thomas Heupel

  3. FOM Hochschule für Oekonomie & Management, Nürnberg, Germany

    Orhan Kocagöz

  4. Atatürk Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi, Yakutiye/Erzurum, Turkey

    Üstün Özen

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Weinmann, S., Axhausen, K.W., Dobler, C. (2018). Driver’s Choice and System Outcomes in Congested Traffic Networks. In: Bakırcı, F., Heupel, T., Kocagöz, O., Özen, Ü. (eds) German-Turkish Perspectives on IT and Innovation Management. FOM-Edition(). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-16962-6_14

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