Models of Transportation and Land Use Change: A Guide to the Territory

Modern urban regions are highly complex entities. Despite the difficulty of modeling every relevant aspect of an urban region, researchers have produced a rich variety models dealing with inter-related processes of urban change. The most popular types of models have been those dealing with the relationship between transportation network growth and changes in land use and the location of economic activity, embodied in the concept of accessibility. This paper reviews some of the more common frameworks for modeling transportation and land use change, illustrating each with some examples of operational models that have been applied to real-world settings.Transport, land use, models, review network growth, induced demand, induced supply

An agent-based retail location model on a supply chain network

Clusters of business locations, which considerably impact daily activities, have been prominent phenomena. Yet the question of how and why Þrms cluster in certain areas has not been sufficiently studied. This paper investigates the emergence of clusters of business locations on a supply chain network comprised of suppliers, retailers, and, consumers. Krugman (1996) argued that urban concentration involved a tension between the centripetal and the centrifugal forces. Based on that notion, this research proposes an agent-based model of retailers' location choice in a market of homogeneous products. In this game, retailers endeavor to maximize their proÞts by changing locations. Retailers' distribution patterns are measured by entropy and cluster density. Simulation results reveal that as more retailers engage in the game, clusters autonomously emerge and the entropy of clusters increases. Once retailers exceed a certain number, average density of clusters begins to decline; all discrete clusters gradually merge to a large cluster, spreading out uniformly. This research thus Þnds that the centripetal force attracts retailers to supplier locations; with even more retailers entering the market, the centrifugal force disperses them. The sensitivity results on model parameters and consumers' demand elasticity are also discussed.clustering, supply chain network, location choice, distribution pattern

Collaborative urban transportation : Recent advances in theory and practice

We thank the Leibniz Association for sponsoring the Dagstuhl Seminar 16091, at which the work presented here was initiated. We also thank Leena Suhl for her comments on an early version of this work. Finally, we thank the anonymous reviewers for the constructive comments.Peer reviewedPostprin

Complexity of Multi-Modal Transportation and Systems of Systems

The multi-modal transportation comprising diverse infrastructures, means & operations, energy resources, rules & regulations and a broad community of stakeholders constitute a complex yet real candidate for formalisation, analysis and optimization. It is shown that the complexity of the system is best described by viewing the challenges of its complexity as a System of Systems (SoS). The objective of this paper is to make an attempt to define and formalise the loose concept of “System of Systems” within the standard framework of Systems Theory and exploit this new theoretical foundation as a basis for understanding, characterisation, evaluation, assessment and management of complexity, relationships and optimal performance in a multi-modal transportation context. The longer term objective is to develop a robust systems framework for scientific treatment of requirements, constraints, risks, resilience, capacity, performance and trade-offs in multi-modal transportation setting

Models of Organisational and Agency Choices for Passenger and Freight- Related Travel Choices: Notions of Inter-Activity and Influence

The study of traveller behaviour has in the main treated each agent in a decision-network as an independent decision maker conditioned typically (and exogenously) on the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of other agents and at best on a set of exogenous variables representing the (perceived ‘equilibrium’) influence of other agents. In many literatures it has long been recognised that agency interaction plays a (potentially) significant role in the actions of individuals. Examples at the household, community and business level abound. McFadden (2001a,b) recently stated that a high priority research agenda for choice modellers is the recognition of the role of social and psychological interactions between decision makers in the formation of preferences. Manski (2000) came to a similar conclusion and offered a plea for better data to assist in understanding the role of interactions between social agents (promoting the role of experimental choice data). While the interest in (endogenous) interactions between agents involved in passenger travel activity is generally neglected, the absence is particularly notable and of greater concern with the renewed interest in the study of (urban) freight travel activity where a supply chain of decision-makers have varying degrees of influence and power over the freight distribution task. This paper reviews the broad literature on interactive decision making with a specific focus on choices made by interactive agents and the role of individuals in networks. A number of modelling perspectives are presented that use well established discrete choice paradigms. We highlight the challenges in designing data collection paradigms that are comprehensive, relevant and comprehendible by participating agents and suggest an agenda for ongoing research

An Agent-Based Decision Support Model for the Development of E-Services in the Tourist Sector

This paper regards cultural heritage as a strategic development tool for urban tourist policy. It highlights the use of e-services as a central instrument in a competitive tourist sector. The appropriate choice of e-services - and packages thereof - depends on the various strategic considerations of urban stakeholders (agents) and may differ for each individual city. The paper offers a systematic analysis framework for supporting these choices and deploys multi-criteria analysis as a systematic evaluation methodology, in particular the Regime method. The evaluation framework is exemplified through an application to three field cases in Europe, viz. the cities of Amsterdam, Genoa and Leipzig. Our analysis concludes that tailor-made packages of e-services that serve the needs of the stakeholders can be made with the help of our evaluation tools.cultural heritage, e-services, city marketing, agent-based decision support model

A Contingent Systems View of Urban Logistics

As urban areas around the world continue to grow, many companies have set their sights on entering these increasingly important markets with dense and diverse customer populations. Unfortunately, the urban environment presents many unique challenges not encountered in traditional city-to-city logistics. As firms adapt to these unique challenges, differences between cities add further complexity. Applying the systems contingency theory perspective (Venkatraman, 1989), this research examines the differences between U.S. urban areas and the logistics strategies that best fit specific combinations of urban environmental characteristics. Following a multi-disciplinary literature review, case studies conducted in eight U.S. cities confirmed certain environmental characteristics and revealed various strategies tailored to individual urban environments. Next, an agent-based simulation model tested performance outcomes related to multiple environment-strategy combinations. The results highlight the impact of urban environment characteristics on logistics performance and the significance of urban area differences on logistics strategy. Finally, the dissertation concludes with recommendations for future research on integrating additional urban environmental characteristics into logistics strategy and the impact of logistics operations on urban systems in general