I think that modelling is to simplistic. Travel time is often times dependent on traffic load, with a stark discontinuity reaching 100% (stop and go traffic).
Consider a contrived example of two similar bridges gapping some body of water. Bridge A is fed by a major highway, Bridge B is downstream a couple of miles and connected to the highway on both sides. For most drivers, if there are no other cars on the road, the preferred route is Bridge A.
The global optimum would be to divert some percentage of highway traffic to Bridge B, _before_ we saturate Bridge A. But for each individual on the highway this would mean a detour and would prefer someone else to take Bridge B.
Consider a contrived example of two similar bridges gapping some body of water. Bridge A is fed by a major highway, Bridge B is downstream a couple of miles and connected to the highway on both sides. For most drivers, if there are no other cars on the road, the preferred route is Bridge A.
The global optimum would be to divert some percentage of highway traffic to Bridge B, _before_ we saturate Bridge A. But for each individual on the highway this would mean a detour and would prefer someone else to take Bridge B.