Negative externalities of GPS-enabled routing applications: A game theoretical approach

Abstract

This work studies the impact of the increasing penetration of routing apps on road usage. Its conclusions apply both to manned vehicles in which human drivers follow app directions, and unmanned vehicles following shortest path algorithms. To address the problem caused by the increased usage of routing apps, we model two distinct classes of users, one having limited knowledge of low-capacity road links. This approach is in sharp contrast with some previous studies assuming that each user has full knowledge of the network and optimizes his/her own travel time. We show that the increased usage of GPS routing provides a lot of benefits on the road network of Los Angeles, such as decrease in average travel times and total vehicle miles traveled. However, this global increased efficiency in urban mobility has negative impacts as well, which are not addressed by the scientific community: increase in traffic in cities bordering highway from users taking local routes to avoid congestion.