The integrated traffic control and traffic assignment problem is studied for a situation with two road authorities. Road authorities try to optimize their own objectives, and the same is done by road users. The result is a two-level, three-player multistage optimization problem with complete information. Game theory gives a suitable framework to analyze the problem and to find solutions for different situations such as no cooperation, cooperation between the two authorities, and a system optimum in which all actors cooperate to minimize the total costs for all travelers. Two approaches are used: an analytical approach and one based on a simulation and assignment framework. Both approaches are described and used to study a simple example, for which the results are given and discussed. The results show that separate or integrated anticipatory control gives better results than iterative reaction to the current situation. If one road authority takes the lead and anticipates the reactions of both the road users and the other road authority, a suboptimum is reached. The model calculations provide evidence that cooperation of road authorities improves utilization of the infrastructure and that global optimization does not necessarily result in a worse situation for one road authority.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.