The effect of information availability on the dynamics of user behavior in urban commuting systems is investigated through an experimental procedure that involves real commuters interacting in a simulated traffic system under two distinct informational situations: in one only the decision maker's own performance on the previous day isavailable, and in the other complete information about the system'sperformance on the previous day is available. The results are examined from the perspective of a theoretical framework articulated previously in conjunction with the results of the first, limited-information, experiment. The focus of this paper is on the results of the complete-information experiment relative to those obtained in the first one. It is found that additional information raises users' aspiration levels and generally improves their predictive capability, but results in greater day-to-day departure time switching and longer convergence periods to a steady state, which is superior, in terms of user costs, to that attained under limited information.(A).
Abstract