Drivers' Perception of Route Alternatives as Indicator for the Indifference Band

Abstract

Although travel time is probably one of the most important attributes in route choice, the shortest time route is often not the preferred route, according to several studies in the literature. This study tries to explain this finding by testing the hypothesis that choice makers may be able to estimate travel times correctly for routes that they prefer but are biased against alternatives even if these are faster. For a few choice sets of routes in the city of Enschede, Netherlands, respondents were asked to choose a route and provide their estimated travel times for both the preferred and the alternative routes. These travel times were then compared with actual travel times from a license plate study. The comparison confirmed the hypothesis. For chosen routes, perceived travel times correspond quite well with actual travel times on average, whereas for routes not chosen, perceived travel times are overestimated by 3 to 4 min on average. These results show that drivers are not able or do not want to evaluate routes objectively. This finding implies that within an indifference band of route delay or travel time inequality of on average 3 to 4 min, drivers are probably not willing to alter their route choice, even if the traffic situation, induced, for example, by traffic management measures, changes in a negative way for their preferred route.

Empirical Study of Effect of Dynamic Travel Time Information on Driver Route Choice Behavior

“…Empirical research found that the factors considered by travelers in making route choice decisions were not unitary [6]. Numerous attributes were found to be important considerations, including travel time, trip distance, average speed, and the number of traffic signals along the route.…”

“…Even though travelers occasionally have correct perception of route performance, they may not be willing to switch to the perceived better route; rather, they stick to the habitual choice until its performance is not satisfying. In other words, travelers are not necessarily utility maximizers [6]. Satisfying psychology triggers individuals' behavioral mechanisms in seeking a satisfactory solution instead of the optimal one.…”

Analysis of inertial choice behavior based expected and experienced savings from a real-world route choice experiment

“…Earlier research of the authors addressed the topic of indifference band thresholds by studying the influence of perception bias on route choice, and how route attributes and past decisions affect perception [21,22]. To complement this research, the aim of this paper is to observe the frequency of different choice strategies, to determine how they are influenced by situational variables and to quantify the thresholds associated to the strategies.…”

A Future of Traffic ManagementToward a Hybrid System of Roadside and Personal Mobile Devices

“…That is, people are more likely to attach positive feeling to options they choose and attribute negative features to options they reject (Mather et al, 2003, Henkel andMather, 2007) even if that would be irrational. In terms of travel choices this suggests that travelers have different perceptions of options they frequently use than options they hardly use (Vreeswijk et al 2013). …”