Complexity and travel behaviour: A multi-agent simulation for investigating the influence of social aspects on travellers' compliance with a demand management measure

摘要

The planning and design of transport systems have an important part in leading travellers to more sustainable and efficient choices. Car-dependence is a prominent problem to be solved in order to reduce traffic congestion. It also affects the general efficiency with which people can travel in urban areas, the environmental impacts of traffic, the structure of towns and settlements and consequently the liveability of the cities. Traditional models of travel behaviour, commonly looking at aggregated choices tend to ignore the complexity of the travel choice problem, where many decision makers influencing each other in a dynamic process of social interactions in various domains and through various types of social network. In this work we present a methodology to model social interactions and their influence on travel choices. The methodology, based on multi-agent simulation, is explained using an example demonstrating the influence of the social interactions on travellers’ behaviour during the implementation of a demand management measure. Some behavioural insights obtained from the example are also discussed