Global path preference and local response: A reward decomposition approach for network path choice analysis in the presence of locally perceived attributes

TL;DR

An attribute-level analysis of the global and local path preferences of network travelers is performed and a reward decomposition approach is proposed and integrated into a link-based recursive (Markovian) path choice model, suggesting the importance of location selection of interventions when policy-related attributes are only locally perceived by travelers.

Abstract

This study performs an attribute-level analysis of the global and local path preferences of network travelers. To this end, a reward decomposition approach is proposed and integrated into a link-based recursive (Markovian) path choice model. The approach decomposes the instantaneous reward function associated with each state-action pair into the global utility, a function of attributes globally perceived from anywhere in the network, and the local utility, a function of attributes that are only locally perceived from the current state. Only the global utility then enters the value function of each state, representing the future expected utility toward the destination. This global-local path choice model with decomposed reward functions allows us to analyze to what extent and which attributes affect the global and local path choices of agents. Moreover, unlike most adaptive path choice models, the proposed model can be estimated based on revealed path observations (without the information of plans) and as efficiently as deterministic recursive path choice models. The model was applied to the real pedestrian path choice observations in an urban street network where the green view index was extracted as a visual street quality from Google Street View images. The result revealed that pedestrians locally perceive and react to the visual street quality, rather than they have the pre-trip global perception on it. Furthermore, the simulation results using the estimated models suggested the importance of location selection of interventions when policy-related attributes are only locally perceived by travelers.

Figures (7)

• Figure 1: Conceptual diagram of the global path preference based on pre-trip information and local response to visually perceived attributes, captured by the global-local path choice model (the pictures are borrowed from Google Street View images). In this example, a pedestrian responds to visual street qualities en route and is likely to choose link 1, which is globally less efficient to reach the destination but visually more attractive than link 2.
• Figure 2: An example network and path alternatives. The numbers in the parentheses (below the link number) on each link indicate the link attribute vector $\mathbold{x}_{a} = (x_{1,a}, x_{2,a})$.
• Figure 3: Chage in path probabilities (a) and value functions (b) with different $\mu_G$ values in case 3.
• Figure 4: Pedestrian network for real application: A mile square centered on the Kannai station. Deeper colors indicate higher GVI values of the streets. The area for simulation study is enclosed by the red-dotted rectangle.
• Figure 5: Validation results. The larger values (the upper positions) indicate better model prediction performance.