A Strategic Model for Dynamic Traffic Assignment

In this paper, we propose a model of dynamic traffic assignment where strategic choices are an integral part of user behaviour. The model is based on a discrete-time description of flow variation through a road network involving arcs with rigid capacities. In such network, a driver's strategy consists in a rule that assigns to each node of the network a set of arcs in the forward star of that node, sorted according to some preference order. The main element of the model is a ‘within-day’ submodel where strategic volumes are loaded onto the network in accordance with the first-in first-out discipline and user preferences. An equilibrium assignment is achieved when expected delays of active strategies are minimal, for every origin-destination pair. We prove the existence of such an assignment and provide numerical results on test networks.

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