Using Game Theory and Payoffs to Reduce Rush Hour Traffic
Most people would agree that rush hour traffic is horrible; the congestion increases travel time to work. One would think that people would avoid traveling at this time because they want a faster route. However, most people receive the highest payoff from their work day when they travel at this time. The payoff is most likely based on productivity at work and preferred schedules. Most coworkers are available during the same hours, making these hours the most valuable hours to be at work for. Most people also prefer to wake up slightly before morning rush hour, and leave work during the evening rush hour; hence, rush hour is the most valuable travel time. Therefore, in order to reduce traffic during rush hour, one must even out the payoffs for the players of leaving times.
There are two ways to even out the travel time payoffs: reduce the payoff of rush hour travel or increase the payoff of traveling other times. Several cities have attempted to even out traffic by increasing toll charges. This is not very effective, however, because it is difficult to “change the habits of lots of people” (Wessel). As discussed in class, players pick the strategy that maximizes their payoff. So adding an incentive to travel at other times may make some players’ payoffs of traveling before or after rush hour the greatest. In the experiment written about in the article, people who arrived at work earlier were entered into a lottery. This incentive was enough to significantly impact the traffic congestion, reducing a bus route’s travel time by almost 20 minutes. By increasing the payoff of traveling earlier, several people valued traveling early higher than traveling during rush hour. This caused a shift in the number of people traveling during rush hour, directly affecting congestion.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323997004578639802367960498