A rational reasoning method from fuzzy perceptions in route choice

The purpose of this paper is to develop a psychometric approach for making possible a more proper description of route choice behavior in transportation systems. A hybrid model that uses concepts from fuzzy logic and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is proposed. Based on Weber's psycho-physical law of 1834, a set of fuzzy 'if-then' rules is developed to represent a typical driver's psychology for capturing essential preferences, pairwise, among the alternatives that a driver may consider. The AHP is then incorporated in this model to represent the underlying decision mechanism and to estimate drivers' preference allotment among the alternatives. This new procedure is applied in a real-world sample based on stated values of subjects. Findings show that this method provides intuitively promising results and that can be used for explaining route choice process of drivers. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.