Global path preference and local response: A reward decomposition approach for network path choice analysis in the presence of visually perceived attributes

This study performs an attribute-level analysis of the global and local path preferences of network travelers. To this end, a reward decomposition approach is proposed and integrated into a link-based recursive (Markovian) path choice model. The approach decomposes the instantaneous reward function associated with each state–action pair into the global utility, a function of attributes globally perceived from anywhere in the network, and the local utility, a function of attributes that are only locally perceived from the current state. Only the global utility then enters the value function of each state, representing the future expected utility toward the destination. This global–local path choice model with decomposed reward functions allows us to analyze to what extent and which attributes affect the global and local path choices of agents. The study applied the proposed model to the real pedestrian path choice observations in an urban street network where the green view index was extracted as a visual streetscape quality from Google Street View images. The result revealed that pedestrians locally perceive and react to the visual streetscape quality, rather than they have the pre-trip global perception on it. Furthermore, the simulation results using the estimated models suggested the importance of location selection of interventions when policy-related attributes are only locally perceived by travelers.