An overview of agent-based traffic simulators

Nguyen, Johannes; Powers, Simon T.; Urquhart, Neil; Farrenkopf, Thomas; Guckert, Michael

Abstract

Individual traffic significantly contributes to climate change and environmental degradation. Therefore, innovation in sustainable mobility is gaining importance as it helps to reduce environmental pollution. However, effects of new ideas in mobility are difficult to estimate in advance and strongly depend on the individual traffic participants. The application of agent technology is particularly promising as it focuses on modelling heterogeneous individual preferences and behaviours. In this paper, we show how agent-based models are particularly suitable to address three pressing research topics in mobility: 1. Social dilemmas in resource utilisation; 2. Digital connectivity; and 3. New forms of mobility. We then explain how the features of several agent-based simulators are suitable for addressing these topics. We assess the capability of simulators to model individual travel behaviour, discussing implemented features and identifying gaps in functionality that we consider important.

Citation

Nguyen, J., Powers, S. T., Urquhart, N., Farrenkopf, T., & Guckert, M. (2021). An overview of agent-based traffic simulators. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 12, Article 100486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2021.100486

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 17, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Nov 9, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-12
• Deposit Date: Feb 1, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 1, 2022
• Journal: Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Article Number: 100486
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2021.100486
• Keywords: Traffic simulation, Multi-agent systems, Simulation software
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2839108