Simulation Program Aims to Model Traffic within Entire Cities

Abstract

Japanese researchers have announced the development of a simulation program that they claim allows them to model traffic patterns in large cities. The article describes the program by researchers at IBM’s Tokyo Research Laboratory and Kyoto University. The simulator, known as the Large-Scale Multi-Agent Traffic Simulation System, is considered the first of its kind and allows users to determine how changes in mass transit, traffic flow and traffic regulations can influence congestion. It can also simulate emergency evacuations, large-scale events, or the effect on traffic of potentially new commercial establishments. The article describes the systems used in the new simulator, the simulator’s testing in Kyoto last October, and its ability to model aspects as various as speeds, vehicle positions, distances between vehicles, as well as common characteristics of younger versus older drivers.