2020/03/15 by Ho Fai Po, Chi Ho Yeung, David Saad · 8 citations
Engineering · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · Social Sciences · #Computer network #Computer science #Engineering #Fraction (chemistry) #Mathematical optimization #Mathematics #Nash equilibrium #Routing (electronic design automation) #Traffic congestion #Traffic control and management #Transport engineering #Transportation Planning and Optimization #Transportation and Mobility Innovations #cond-mat.stat-mech #physics.soc-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.103.022306
published in Physical review. E 103(2), 022306 (American Physical Society)
arxiv created 2020/03/15 · openalex publication_date 2021/02/08 · arxiv updated 2021/02/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Optimizing traffic flow is essential for easing congestion. However, even when globally optimal, coordinated, and individualized routes are provided, users may choose alternative routes which offer lower individual costs. By analyzing the impact of selfish route choices on performance using the cavity method, we find that a small ratio of selfish route choices improves the global performance of uncoordinated transportation networks but degrades the efficiency of optimized systems. Remarkably, compliant users always gain in the former and selfish users may gain in the latter, under some parameter conditions. The theoretical results are in good agreement with large-scale simulations. Iterative route switching by a small fraction of selfish users leads to Nash equilibria close to the globally optimal routing solution. Our theoretical framework also generalizes the use of the cavity method, originally developed for the study of equilibrium states, to analyze iterative game-theoretical problems. These results shed light on the feasibility of easing congestion by route coordination when not all vehicles follow the coordinated routes.