Abstract:A traffic network equilibrium model is developed in which the users or travelers on the network are assumed to be multicriteria decision-makers with an explicit environmental criterion. The members of a class of traveler perceive their generalized cost on a route as a weighting of travel time, travel cost, and the emissions generated. The model allows the weights to be not only class-dependent but also link-dependent. The multiclass, multicriteria network equilibrium conditions are shown to satisfy a finite-dimensional variational inequality problem. Qualitative properties of the solution are obtained. A special case of the model is then used to obtain sharper results and to illustrate the relationship between the weights and the attainment of a desired environmental quality standard. An algorithm is proposed for the computation of the equilibrium pattern, along with convergence results, and then applied to solve a numerical example. The multiclass, multicriteria network equilibrium model is the first to incorporate an environmental criterion.

Note:Published in Computational Methods in Decision-Making, Economics and Finance, Kluwer Academic Publishers, chapter 25.