Driver strategy and traffic system performance

As increasingly sophisticated routing, navigation and trip-planning devices are installed in automobiles, it becomes necessary to consider the likely effects of such devices on overall traffic system performance. A simple simulation model of “rush-hour” commuting is presented and the system-level consequences of a variety of agent-level behavior patterns are explored. In the context of this model, increasingly sophisticated agent-level commuting strategies result in decreased system-level performance as measured by several criteria.