Braess' paradox in the age of traffic information

TL;DR

This paper investigates whether modern traffic information systems can prevent Braess' paradox, finding that even with intelligent route choices based on past experience or navigation app data, the paradox can still occur.

Contribution

It demonstrates that current traffic information systems do not eliminate Braess' paradox, extending previous models to include informed route choices based on traffic data.

Findings

Braess' paradox persists with informed route choices

Modern traffic info does not resolve the paradox

User optima can still lead to higher travel times

Abstract

The Braess paradox describes the counterintuitive situation that the addition of new roads to road networks can lead to higher travel times for all network users. Recently we could show that user optima leading to the paradox exist in networks of microscopic transport models. We derived phase diagrams for two kinds of route choice strategies that were externally tuned and applied by all network users. Here we address the question whether these user optima are still realized if intelligent route choice decisions are made based upon two kinds of traffic information. We find that the paradox still can occur if the drivers 1) make informed decisions based on their own past experiences or 2) use traffic information similar to that provided by modern navigation apps. This indicates that modern traffic information systems are not able to resolve Braess' paradox.