Equilibria in Routing Games with Edge Priorities

In this paper, we present a new routing model with edge priorities. We consider network users that route packages selfishly through a network over time and try to reach their destinations as fast as possible. If the number of packages that want to enter an edge at the same time exceeds the inflow capacity of this edge, edge priorities with respect to the preceding edge solve these conflicts. For this class of games, we show the existence of equilibrium solutions for single-source-single-sink games and we analyze structural properties of these solutions. We present an algorithm that computes Nash equilibria and we prove bounds both on the Price of Stability and on the Price of Anarchy. Moreover, we introduce the new concept of the Price of Mistrust and analyze the connection to earliest arrival flows.

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