In this book a concise overview of the various aspects of route choice behaviour in different transport networks is presented. The question of how people choose routes in a road network and what role road characteristics play is examined. An exposition of a behavioural choice theory viewed as the outcome of a dynamic, multi-stage process including cognition, perception, and evaluation of alternative and their attributes is discussed. Special attention is given to the formation of choice sets. A comprehensive review of various methods to observe choice behaviour, and a wide array of mathematical models used to analyse preferences and to predict route choice behaviour is presented. Examples of areas in which this research can be applied covering the fields of transport planning, transport management, network design, and navigational technology are given. Finally the book deals with the contribution which route choice analyses could make to the problem of traffic congestion in urban areas.
Abstract