Piet H. L. Bovy

ROUTE CHOICE: WAYFINDING IN TRANSPORT NETWORKS

1. Wayfinding: Choice and Search.- 1.1 Personal Experience or Alternative Introduction.- 1.2 Scope.- 1.3 Relevance of Route Choice Behavior Research.- 1.4 Structure of the Book.- 2. Route Choice Behavior Theory.- 2.1 Basic Definitions.- 2.2 Basic Assumptions.- 2.3 Spatial Behavior.- 2.4 Travel Behavior.- 2.5 Route Choice Behavior.- 3. Elements of Route Choice Behavior.- 3.1 Learning Networks.- 3.1.1 Learning and Spatial Ability.- 3.1.2 Learning and Spatial Knowledge.- 3.2 Choice Set Formation.- 3.2.1 Characteristics of Route Choice Situations.- 3.2.2 Cognition of Routes in Transport Networks.- 3.2.3 Constraints in Route Choice.- 3.2.4 Choice Set Generation.- 3.3 Route Choice Factors.- 3.3.1 Factors Importance Hierarchy.- 3.3.2 Relative Importance of Choice Attributes.- 3.4 Perception of Route Attributes.- 3.4.1 General Observations.- 3.4.2 Perception of Travel Distance.- 3.4.3 Perception of Travel Time.- 3.4.4 Perception of Travel Speed.- 3.5 Evaluation of Routes and Choice Decision.- 3.6 Route Choice Dynamics.- 3.7 Route Choice in a Network Equilibrium Perspective.- 3.8 The Role of Experience.- 4. Observations of Route Choice Behavior.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 Observation Methods.- 4.2.1 Laboratory Techniques.- 4.2.2 Real-world Behavior.- 4.2.3 Methodological Evaluation.- 4.3 Observations of Individual Behavior.- 4.4 Observations of Choice Situations.- 4.5 Actual Route Paths.- 4.5.1 Interviews.- 4.5.2 Self-Completion Questionnaires.- 4.5.3 Stalking.- 5. Route Choice Models.- 5.1 Modeling Approaches.- 5.2 Choice Set Generation Models.- 5.3 Random Utility Models.- 5.3.1 Random Utility Theory.- 5.3.2 Route Choice Utility Functions.- 5.3.3 Single Minimum Path Models.- 5.3.4 Multiple Path Logit Models.- 5.3.5 Multiple Path Probit Models.- 5.3.6 Risk Models.- 5.4 Production Rule Systems.- 5.4.1 Roots and Essence.- 5.4.2 Model characteristics.- 5.4.3 Hierarchical Route Structure - An Example.- 6. Applications.- 6.1 Review of Practice and Potential.- 6.2 Estimation of Traffic Volumes.- 6.2.1 Traffic Counts.- 6.2.2 Estimation of O-D Tables.- 6.3 Traffic Assignment.- 6.3.1 General Framework.- 6.3.2 Contemporary Models.- 6.4 Traffic Management Schemes.- 6.4.1 Nature and Potential Use.- 6.4.2 Plans and Schemes.- 6.5 Design of Networks and Facilities.- 6.5.1 Potential Effects of Route Considerations.- 6.5.2 Micro-Level Design.- 6.5.3 Macro-Level Design.- 6.6 Route Guidance Systems.- 6.6.1 Motives and Benefits.- 6.6.2 State of the Art.- 6.6.3 Non-Vehicle Related Aids.- 6.6.4 In-Vehicle Navigation Aids.- 6.6.5 Route Choice Related Research.- 7. Future Prospects.- 7.1 Congestion - How Much Can We Take?.- 7.1.1 Definitions and Trends.- 7.1.2 Possible Solutions.- 7.2 Route Choice and Congestion Relief.- 7.2.1 Navigational Waste.- 7.2.2 Telematics.- 7.2.3 Evaluation of Future Transport Systems.- Author Index.- Credits.

Congestion in Europe: Measurements, patterns and policies

Travel Behaviour is a challenging and original volume, adding to the growing literature focusing on understanding transportation systems. The book capitalises on actual scientific and applied developments in Europe, the importance of EC policies and the resultant trend in studying differences between North American and European research.

EUROPE: A HETEROGENOUS 'SINGLE MARKET'

What makes Europe unique in comparison to the United States of America and to Japan, is its diversity. Many different languages are spoken; many forms of spatial organizations (centralized and federated forms), different levels of economic development and different cultures.

European Mobility is Different: A Global Perspective

European travel patterns are different from those of the North-Americans and the Japanese. The main differences may be explained by geography (density and distribution of settlements), culture (Europe being in an intermediate position between the holistic approach of Japan and the individualistic culture of the American pioneers), and the domestic economic context (pricing policies, infrastructure investment) which in turn mirror the different cultures.

TRANSPORT POLICY: THE EUROPEAN LABORATORY.

At the European Community level there is increasing pressure to harmonise transport policies among the member states, with consequential effects on travel both within and between countries. To date this has particularly affected the taxation of motor vehicles and fuels, and regulations on vehicle standards and driver hours for non-private vehicles. These pressures are likely to intensify, as a consequence of both commercial and political imperatives. However, at the present time, most decisions about transport policy issues affecting the movement of people within countries are still taken by the individual member states.

Introduction: Can a Billion Trips be Reduced to a Few Patterns?

The 413 million Europeans generate roughly a billion trips a day. In doing so, they consume vast amounts of time, energy and money, produce tons of air pollution and a myriad of safety hazards. Nevertheless, as individuals and as societies, they are willing to do that, in order to get to work, shopping or leisure activities, and to support the productive and consumptive life-styles they lead.

Wayfinding: Choice and Search

One of the classical, and probably trivial, reasons for travel is the fact that different things exist in different places. Since there is usually more than one way to travel between two places, every trip involves, in some way or another, a route choice decision. In some cases these decisions are of minor importance to the traveler, but in others they may be very important. The collective outcome of all individual decisions is often important to all of us because it affects the quality of the environment in which we act. Congested roads is a typical example of environmental quality deterioration caused by the collective outcome of individual route choice decisions. On an individual level we often experience other situations in which we have to make a choice between alternative routes, in both familiar and unfamiliar environments. There is nothing better than our own experience to illustrate some of these situations. Experiences like these stimulated our scientific curiosity and finally led us to write this book.

Elements of Route Choice Behavior

It has been generally accepted that spatial behavior is a direct function of the extent of learning about the environment in which we act (e.g. Golledge and Stimson, 1987). Gaps in our environmental information are linked to the extent of learning we have about the environment or any relevant sub-system within it. We shall therefore refer first to the element of spatial learning in general, and to the element of network learning in particular.

Route Choice Behavior Theory

In order to start with a comma terminology, two basic concepts have to be defined: 1) what is a route, and 2) what is comprised by the term of choice.

Observations of Route Choice Behavior

Empirical research into route choice in networks distinguishes between studies concerned with the route search process and those concerned with the route choice process.