| Summary: | We examine the following traffic model. There is a network of users who wish to route traffic to their destinations as quickly as possible. Each edge in the network has a load-dependent function specifying the delay experienced by traffic using that network link. In an optimal routing scheme the total latency incurred by all the network users is minimized. However, when users are free to route traffic according to their own interests the network traffic converges to a selfishly defined traffic assignment which can be more costly than the optimal solution. The following question then arises; how much deterioration in network performance can be caused by this lack of coordination? First, we explore this question by quantifying the efficiency losses inherent in the selfishly defined solution. Second, we focus on designing selfish routing instances that produce optimal network flows. We present, an assortment of results on these topics and suggest some promising new areas of research.
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