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On the role of bridges as anchor points in route choice modeling

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Abstract

This work builds upon the thought that individuals allocate higher levels of importance to some particular features of the route, so called anchor points. Previous route choice models have either ignored the effects of anchor points (route-based models), or have given an exclusive attention to their effects and ignored the behavioral accuracy and practicality of these models (anchor-based models). In this work we argue that the consideration of both route-level attributes and anchor points would enhance the behavioral aspect of route choice models as well as their estimation and prediction abilities. Global Positioning System traces have been used to investigate the effect of bridges as anchor points for trips between Montreal and its Northern suburb, Laval. A classic Nested Logit and a nested Logit Kernel model have been estimated, in which interdependencies among routes crossing the same bridge are captured through the nested structure and the adopted factor analytic approach, respectively. A Metropolis–Hastings path-sampling algorithm is applied, for the first time, on a large road network with more than 40,000 nodes and 19,000 links to provide the consideration choice set. Estimates are then compared to three alternate models, representing route-based and anchor-based formulations; namely Path-Size Logit, Extended Path-Size Logit, and Independent Availability Logit models. Empirical results showed that the proposed nested structures with MH sampling provide better estimates and also perform better in the validation step with respect to comparative models. Findings underscore the importance of considering anchor points in conjunction with route level attributes in route choice decisions.

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Notes

  1. The terms route and path are used interchangeably in this article.

  2. Road segments are defined to be the portion of a road between two consecutive junctions.

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Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to Gunnar Flötteröd for his invaluable help with the implementation of MH algorithm. We also acknowledge collaborators from Taxi Diamond who provided access to data for research purpose, as well as the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions. We would also thank the Interuniversity Research Centre on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transportation (CIRRELT) for providing the possibility of using their cluster computer for our research funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC) Research Tools and Instruments grant.

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  1. Department of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal, C.P. 6079, succ. Centre-Ville, Montreal, QC, H3C 3A7, Canada

    Hamzeh Alizadeh, Bilal Farooq, Catherine Morency & Nicolas Saunier

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  1. Hamzeh Alizadeh
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  2. Bilal Farooq
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Alizadeh, H., Farooq, B., Morency, C. et al. On the role of bridges as anchor points in route choice modeling. Transportation 45, 1181–1206 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-017-9761-7

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