An empirical study of the deviation between actual and shortest travel time paths

Recently published

• Tang, W., and Levinson, D. (2018) An empirical study of the deviation between actual and shortest travel time paths. ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems . 144 (8) [doi]

Abstract: This study evaluates routes followed by residents of the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area, as measured by the Global Positioning System (GPS) component of the 2010/11 Twin Cities Travel Behavior Inventory (TBI). It finds that most commuters used paths longer than the shortest path. This is in part a function of trip distance (+, longer distance trips deviate more), trip circuity (−, more circuitous trips deviate less), number of turns (+, trips with more turns per kilometer deviate more), age of driver (−, older drivers deviate less), employment status (+, part-time workers deviate more), flexibility in work hours (+, more flexibility deviate more), and household income (−, higher-income travelers deviate less). Some reasons for these findings are conjectured.

Author keywords: Global positioning system (GPS); Shortest path; Route choice; Wardrop’s principles; Travel behavior.