A day-to-day route flow evolution process towards the mixed equilibria

Abstract

This study investigates a travelers’ day-to-day route flow evolution process under a predefined market penetration of advanced traveler information system (ATIS). It is assumed that some travelers equipped with ATIS will follow the deterministic user equilibrium route choice behavior due to the complete traffic information provided by ATIS, while the other travelers unequipped with ATIS will follow the stochastic user equilibrium route choice behavior. The interaction between these two groups of travelers will result in a mixed equilibrium state. We first propose a discrete day-to-day route flow adjustment process for this mixed equilibrium behavior by specifying the travelers’ route adjustment principle and adjustment ratio. The convergence of the proposed day-to-day flow dynamic model to the mixed equilibrium state is then rigorously demonstrated under certain assumptions upon route adjustment principle and adjustment ratio. In addition, without affecting the convergence of the proposed day-to-day flow dynamic model, the assumption concerning the adjustment ratio is further relaxed, thus making the proposed model more appealing in practice. Finally, numerical experiments are conducted to illustrate and evaluate the performance of the proposed day-to-day flow dynamic model.