A ridesharing choice behavioral equilibrium model with users of heterogeneous values of time

Abstract

Travelers decide whether to participate in ridesharing based on the trade-off between the travel time and the expense. However, it is still unclear how travelers’ values of time affect their ridesharing behaviors on the congested network. To this end, a path-based ridesharing traffic assignment model was proposed by considering travelers’ heterogenous values of time. In the proposed model, travelers are divided into several classes according to their values of time, and travelers in each class choose their travel modes and routes simultaneously which cost the least. Moreover, travelers in different classes could share the same vehicle to complete their trips together in the proposed model. This paper further discusses how the high-occupancy toll lane affects travelers’ ridesharing behaviors. Numerical results show that: (1) travelers with different values of time show differences in their ridesharing behavior; (2) the single-class ridesharing traffic assignment model may miscalculate the ridesharing scale of users; and (3) building high-occupancy toll lanes plays a positive role in promoting ridesharing for travelers with heterogeneous values of time.