Modeling the Impact of Route Recommendations in Road Traffic

In this work, effects of real-time route recommendations between two alternative routes are analyzed. The aim is to assess the consequences of route planner applications (apps) on road congestion. For this purpose, the considered model takes the form of a state-dependent switching system that describes a supply-demand mechanism, based on established macroscopic traffic flow models. Through a comprehensive stability analysis of the system, with an emphasis on the dependence on the system parameters (such as road capacities, critical densities, traffic demand), it is shown that real-time recommendations can cause congestion in the network and failure to satisfy user demand.