Modeling absolute and relative cost differences in stochastic user equilibrium problem

Xiangdong Xu, Anthony Chen, Songyot Kitthamkesorn, Hai Yang, Hong K. Lo

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

32 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper aims to develop a hybrid closed-form route choice model and the corresponding stochastic user equilibrium (SUE) to alleviate the drawbacks of both Logit and Weibit models by simultaneously considering absolute cost difference and relative cost difference in travelers' route choice decisions. The model development is based on an observation that the issues of absolute and relative cost differences are analogous to the negative exponential and power impedance functions of the trip distribution gravity model. Some theoretical properties of the hybrid model are also examined, such as the probability relationship among the three models, independence from irrelevant alternatives, and direct and indirect elasticities. To consider the congestion effect, we provide a unified modeling framework to formulate the Logit, Weibit and hybrid SUE models with the same entropy maximization objective but with different total cost constraint specifications representing the modelers' knowledge of the system. With this, there are two ways to interpret the dual variable associated with the cost constraint: shadow price representing the marginal change in the entropy level to a marginal change in the total cost, and dispersion/shape parameter representing the travelers' perceptions of travel costs. To further consider the route overlapping effect, a path-size factor is incorporated into the hybrid SUE model. Numerical examples are also provided to illustrate the capability of the hybrid model in handling both absolute and relative cost differences as well as the route overlapping problem in travelers' route choice decisions.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)686-703
Number of pages18
JournalTransportation Research Part B: Methodological
Volume81
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Absolute cost difference
  • Logit
  • Relative cost difference
  • Route overlapping
  • Stochastic user equilibrium
  • Weibit

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Transportation
  • Management Science and Operations Research

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Modeling absolute and relative cost differences in stochastic user equilibrium problem'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this