Development of an enhanced route choice model based on cumulative prospect theory

•An improved method is designed to determine the reference point of travel time.•An enhanced route choice model is developed based on CPT.•The enhanced model can accurately describe different trip purposes and travel mentality.•A stochastic user equilibrium model based on CPT shows the great value to portray route choice behavior.

Route choice models have important theoretical value and practical significance for the systematic analysis of urban transportation. The method utilized to determine the reference point of travel time by considering the restrictions on reserved travel time of travelers is improved in this study. On this basis, a route choice model based on cumulative prospect theory (CPT) is proposed. A stochastic user equilibrium model based on CPT that integrates the Wardrop equilibrium principle is also developed. The data analysis results indicate that CPT provides a better description of risk attitudes than expected utility theory (EUT). The improved reference point of travel time can capture the demand of reliable travel time from different travelers. Furthermore, the numerical results of the stochastic user equilibrium model based on CPT are in agreement with the route choice behavior observed in an actual road network.