An analysis of dynamic network traffic flow based on the game theory for advanced transport management

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K14843
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 22050:Civil engineering plan and transportation engineering-related
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Satsukawa Koki 東北大学, 情報科学研究科, 助教 (40867347)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 動的交通量配分 / 粒子モデル / ゲーム理論 / 交通制御 / Nash均衡 / 安定性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In order to apply new technologies to transport systems in a desirable form, it is necessary to clarify the influence of the technology on the transport behaviour of individual users and on network traffic flows. This study developed a method to deductively analyse the traffic flow at the introduction of new technology from the user's behaviour using game theory. The results of this analysis reveal the dynamic characteristics (convergence and stability) of network traffic flows under the congestion charging and signal control schemes, and provide important insights into the effectiveness of each control scheme. Moreover, we clarified the relationship between network traffic problems and game classes where knowledge about theoretical properties of equilibrium is accumulated. This contributes to the foundations for rigorous theoretical and numerical analysis.

Free Research Field

交通工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の最大の特色は，ゲーム理論を通して，個別利用者のミクロな特性(交通選択行動)とネットワーク交通流のマクロな特性(均衡特性，交通性能)を繋ぐ点にある．交通工学で長年研究が進展してきた均衡理論を活用しつつ，新技術導入（例えば個車レベルの自律分散型制御）の影響評価をネットワークで行うための理論的基礎が構築される．さらに本研究は，個別利用者を取り扱う粒子モデルの，ネットワーク交通流の特性を理論的に解析する手段としての新たな可能性を提示している．加えて，本研究はゲーム理論や計算機科学などの分野と関係しており，これらに対して理論的・実践的課題を提示する点で，学術的波及効果も高い．