There are 300 cars which must travel from city A to city B. There are two possible
Question:
There are 300 cars which must travel from city A to city B. There are two possible routes that each car can take. The upper route through city C or the lower route through city D. Let x be the number of cars traveling on the edge AC and let y be the number of cars traveling on the edge DB. The directed graph in Figure 8.9 indicates that total travel time per car along the upper route is (x/100) + 3.1 if x cars use the upper route, and similarly the total travel time per car along the lower route is 3.1 + (y/100) if y cars take the lower route. Each driver wants to select a route to minimize his total travel time. The drivers make simultaneous choices.
(a) Find Nash equilibrium values of x and y.
(b) Now the government builds a new (one-way) road from city A to city B. The new route has a travel time of 5 per car regardless of the number of cars that use it. Draw the new network and label the edges with the cost-of-travel needed to move along the edge. The network should be a directed graph as all roads are one-way. Find a Nash equilibrium for the game played on the new network. What happens to total cost-oftravel (the sum of total travel times for the 300 cars) as a result of the availability of the new road?
(c) Now the government closes the direct route between city A and city B and builds a new one-way road which links city C to city D. This new road between C and D is very short and has a travel time of 0 regardless of the number of cars that use it. Draw the new network and label the edges with the cost-of-travel needed to move along the edge. The network should be a directed graph as all roads are one-way. Find a Nash equilibrium for the game played on the new network. What happens to total cost-of-travel as a result of the availability of the new road?
(d) The government is unhappy with the outcome in part (c) and decides to reopen the road directly linking city A and city B (the road that was built in part (b) and closed in part (c)). The route between C and D that was constructed in part (c) remains open. This road still has a travel time of 5 per car regardless of the number of cars that use it. Draw the new network and label the edges with the cost-of-travel needed to move along the edge. The network should be a directed graph as all roads are one-way. Find a Nash equilibrium for the game played on the new network. What happens to total cost-of-travel as a result of re-opening the direct route between A and B?
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