Including network level safety measures in eco-routing

Following the most energy-efficient route can have a significant impact on reducing energy consumption. While most eco-routing research has focused on reducing energy consumption and travel time, the safety aspect of route choice is currently neglected. In this paper, a multi-objective optimization methodology is formulated to concurrently minimize fuel consumption, travel time and safety risk, which is quantified using a novel methodology based on network-level safety measures. The proposed optimization framework provides a transparent way to intuitively include driver preferences via “budgets” for time, fuel consumption and safety – which represent the driver’s willingness to sacrifice these factors for fuel consumption improvements. The performance of the proposed method was tested on urban road networks in Brisbane-Australia, with a rear-end collision risk model as the safety measure. The results demonstrate that eco-routing with safety considerations has the potential to improve fuel efficiency while simultaneously reducing safety risks.