Modeling Multiday Route Choices of Strategic Commuters: A Mean Field Game Approach

Minghui Wu, Yafeng Yin, Jerome P. Lynch

Abstract: In the era of connected and automated mobility, commuters will possess strong computation capabilities, enabling them to make foresighted and strategic route choices. This paper investigates the implications of such strategic planning on traffic patterns by modeling the commute problem as a mean field game, where every traveler plans for sequential route choices over a span of several days. We examine the concept of multiday user equilibrium, a special mean field equilibrium under commuter interactions, to derive network traffic flow patterns. Under mild conditions, our analysis establishes the existence and uniqueness of the equilibrium flow pattern and explores its relationship with conventional Wardrop equilibrium.