A Markov chain model for traffic equilibrium problems

Department of Mathematics, via Buonarroti 2, 56127 Pisa, Italy; mastroen@dm.unipi.it.

Received: January 2002

Abstract

We consider a stochastic approach in order to define an equilibrium model for a traffic-network problem. In particular, we assume a Markovian behaviour of the users in their movements throughout the zones of the traffic area. This assumption turns out to be effective at least in the context of urban traffic, where, in general, the users tend to travel by choosing the path they find more convenient and not necessarily depending on the already travelled part. The developed model is a homogeneous Markov chain, whose stationary distributions (if any) characterize the equilibrium.