A Strategic Model for Dynamic Traffic Assignment

We propose a model of dynamic traffic assignment where strategic choices are an integral part of user behaviour. The model provides a discrete-time description of flow variation through a road network involving arcs with rigid capacities. A driver’s strategy assigns, to each node of the network, a set of arcs in the forward star of that node, sorted according to a preference order. The main element of the model is a ‘within-day’ submodel where strategic volumes are loaded onto the network in accordance with the first-in first-out discipline and user preferences. An equilibrium assignment is achieved when expected delays are minimal, for every origin-destination pair. We prove the existence of such an assignment and provide numerical results on test networks.