How Vehicle Connectivity based Eco-Routing Choices Will Impact on Driver Decision Making

Abstract

The eco-routing navigation system has become a promising application to reduce fuel consumption by optimizing driving recommendations through energy efficiency prioritization instead of sole travel time or distance minimization. Current studies have limited efforts to investigate whether and why drivers will choose and comply with an eco-route recommendation by eco-routing navigation systems, as well as the potential impact of drivers’ habitual route choice on their decision-making. To fill this research gap, a field test was conducted from May to June 2019 in Ann Arbor, MI. Forty-three participants were recruited to receive an Android phone pre-installed with an eco-routing navigation application specifically developed for this study. In two weeks, drivers were instructed to interact with the application by completing a route-choice survey and selecting from recommended driving routes prior to the beginning of some of their driving trips. Data analyses were conducted to examine drivers’ route choices and compliance behavior when interacting with this eco-routing application, including mixed-effect logistic regression models to explore the impacting factors on the eco-routing choice and compliance, a multi-label random forests (MLRF) model to predict route choice behavior, and a mixed-effect beta regression model to examine the effect of habit on route choice following the framework of Triandis's Theory of Interpersonal Behavior (TIB). To summarize, it was observed that drivers chose the eco-routing option with the most energy-saving feature in approximately 78.6% of all the selected routes in this study. They were more likely to select the eco route when the trip had a shorter distance and/or higher gas consumption per mile. Prioritize the eco-route choice among alternatives was associated with higher likelihood of being selected. Route information such as distance saved and average gas consumption ranked the highest in predicting route choice, followed by subjective data such as prior activities and trip purpose. In terms of compliance, drivers who chose the eco or fast routes and rode along with three or more household passengers were more likely to fully follow the recommended route. Habitual route choice showed a strong impact on drivers’ compliance to an eco-route navigation advice. More specifically, drivers were more likely to follow a similar route regardless of the eco-route recommendation if a habitual route choice has already been formed. Nevertheless, if drivers yet have a strong habitual route selection towards a specific trip origin and destination pair, they were significantly more likely to follow the eco-route advice given by the navigation application and might even maintained the behavior afterwards. The findings of this study could help improve the understanding of drivers’ decision-making in eco-route planning. It could also benefit the design of eco-routing navigation system and education programs targeting transportation sustainability, both of which will contribute to the achievement of a more eco-friendly transportation system.