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Transition to Coherent Oscillatory Behaviour in a Route Choice Game

Dirk Helbing 1Martin Schonhof 1Hans-Ulrich Stark 1Janusz A. Hołyst 2

1. Dresden University of Technology, Faculty of Transportation and Traffic Sciences, Andreas-Schubert Str. 23, Dresden 01062, Germany
2. Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Physics and Cent.of Exc.for Complex Systems Research, Koszykowa 75, Warszawa 00-662, Poland

Abstract

Selfish routing of traffic over alternative routes wastes available street capacities, as individuals tend to generate an equilibrium state (a `Wardrop' or `Nash equilibrium') with higher overall travel times than in the optimal state. This `Pareto optimum' is characterized by coherent oscillatory patterns rather than a stationary behaviour. Here, we study the time-dependent decision behaviour in a day-to-day route choice setting by means of experimental and simulation results. While there is a tendency towards establishing the Nash equilibrium in the beginning, we often find a transition to coherent oscillatory behaviour after a long transient time period. In spite of the complex dynamics leading to co-ordinated oscillations, we have identified mathematical relationships quantifying the observed transition process.

 

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Related papers

Presentation: Oral at 2 Ogólnopolskie Sympozjum "Fizyka w Ekonomii i Naukach Społecznych", Plenary session, by Janusz A. Hołyst
See On-line Journal of 2 Ogólnopolskie Sympozjum "Fizyka w Ekonomii i Naukach Społecznych"

Submitted: 2006-03-01 13:50
Revised:   2009-06-07 00:44