Annex: Agent-based modelling documentation
This is the handbook's agent-based modelling annex, referenced from the transport model chapter as additional background on agent-based and activity-based transport modelling.
Official guidance
TAG Unit M5.4: Agent-based Methods and Activity-based Demand Modelling, the Department for Transport's definitions and introduction.
This is the same document cited as Department for Transport (2024b) in the references.
Overviews and reviews
Four reviews of the field, useful for orientation before the model-specific material:
| Publication | Source |
|---|---|
| Transportation in Agent-Based Urban Modelling | Springer |
| Agent-based models in urban transportation: review, challenges, and opportunities | Springer |
| Agent-based modeling in urban human mobility: A systematic review | ScienceDirect |
| Agent-Based Models in Transport Planning: Current State, Issues, and Expectations | ScienceDirect |
The last of these is Kagho, Balac and Axhausen (2020), cited in Chapter 8 for spatio-temporal interaction in agent-based models.
A duplicate in the source
The handbook's annex lists "Agent-based models in urban transportation: review, challenges, and opportunities" twice, with the same URL. It appears once above.
Examples of model development
| Publication | Source |
|---|---|
| A MATSim model methodology to generate cycling-focused transport scenarios in England | ScienceDirect |
Applications in urban policy
| Publication | Source |
|---|---|
| An Agent-Based Model framework to simulate active travel-focused transport policy scenarios | Newcastle University Theses |
| Sustainable Transport Policy Impact Assessment Using Agent-based Modelling: A Case Study in Oxford, UK | ACM Digital Library |
The first is Alvarez Castro (2024), the thesis underpinning the transport-supply definition in Chapter 7 and the Tyne and Wear MATSim model used in the North East England case study.
Methodologies to build travel demand
| Publication | Source |
|---|---|
| A reproducible pipeline for activity-based travel demand generation in England | SAGE Journals |
Relevant to activity plans, which covers how plans are generated for a synthetic population.
Agent-based models in UK practice, beyond academia
Three examples of agent-based models in operational use by UK transport bodies and consultancies:
BERTIE
An agent-based model developed for Transport East.
Birmingham model
Birmingham's agent-based model, developed by Arup.
DeMAND
Demand Modelling and Assessment through a Network Demonstrator.
Why this section is worth reading
The three entries above are the annex's most distinctive contribution. The academic literature establishes that agent-based transport modelling works; these show it being used by transport authorities and consultancies on live UK projects.
That matters for the transferability argument the handbook makes in the introduction: the IMP's approach is not confined to research settings.