Experiment of boundedly rational route choice behavior and the model under satisficing rule

In this paper, we study the boundedly rational route choice behavior under the Simon's satisficing rule. A laboratory experiment was carried out to verify the participants' boundedly rational route choice behavior. By introducing the concept of aspiration level which is specific to each person, we develop a novel model of the problem in a parallel-link network and investigate the properties of the boundedly rational user equilibrium (BRUE) state. Conditions for ensuring the existence and uniqueness of the BRUE solution are derived. A solution method is proposed to find the unique BRUE state. Extensions to general networks are conducted. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the theoretical analyses. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.