Role-playing games as a mean to validate agent-based models: an application to stakeholder-driven urban freight transport policy-making

Abstract Agent-based models (ABMs) are widely used to replicate transport environments accounting for interaction among stakeholders. Validation of ABMs implies assessing the extent to which the model, from assumptions to results, is capable of approximating reality. To this end, different methods have been proposed, but yet no widely accepted procedure has emerged. This paper addresses this problem and suggests using a procedure based on role-playing games (RPGs). A first application is described with the intent of providing a preliminary contribution to validate an ABM trying to mimic stakeholders' interaction in a multi-level decision-making process in the context of urban freight transport policy-making. The aim is twofold: (1) understand if the structure of the model and the opinion dynamics envisioned are consistent with a real negotiation process, (2) verify if the results derived from the ABM effort are in line with those derived from a real-life experiment. Results of the first preliminary experiment show that the model seems capable of reproducing real-world processes and confirm that well-thought-out RPGs can contribute to validating ABMs

Framing Stakeholder Involvement in Sustainable Port Planning

This paper presents a framework to encompass stakeholder involvement in port planning processes, by specifically focusing on long-term strategic plans aimed at sustainability and designed to satisfy the needs of a port community and its surroundings. A classification of the main port stakeholders is presented together with some traditional and non-conventional tools and methods that can be used to support the participation process, according to the degree of participation and the steps of the plan. This analysis takes its clue from the results of the EU PORTA project, aimed at setting a new system of guidelines to integrate regional planning and port management. Port authorities and local policy-makers can use the output of this analysis to understand how to deal with the complexity of multi-actor decisions in port planning. By duly taking into consideration stakeholders’ needs and concerns it will be easier to find the most shared solutions pursuing port sustainability

Role-playing games as a mean to validate agent-based models : an application to stakeholder-driven urban freight transport policymaking

Agent-based models (ABMs) are widely used to replicate transport environments accounting for interaction among stakeholders. Validation of ABMs implies assessing the extent to which the model, from assumptions to results, is capable of approximating reality. To this end, different methods have been proposed, but yet no widely accepted procedure has emerged. This paper addresses this problem and suggests using a procedure based on role-playing games (RPGs). A first application is described with the intent of providing a preliminary contribution to validate an ABM trying to mimic stakeholders’ interaction in a multi-level decisionmaking process in the context of urban freight transport policy-making. The aim is twofold: (1) understand if the structure of the model and the opinion dynamics envisioned are consistent with a real negotiation process, (2) verify if the results derived from the ABM effort are in line with those derived from a real-life experiment. Results of the first preliminary experiment show that the model seems capable of reproducing real-world processes and confirm that well-thought-out RPGs can contribute to validating ABMs. Keywords: city logistics, stakeholder engagement, participatory simulation, model validation, discrete choice modelspublishedVersio

Smart urban freight planning process: integrating desk, living lab and modelling approaches in decision-making

Abstract Purpose This paper proposes an innovative approach to decision-making processes for urban freight planning that could easily be transferred across cities while capable of jointly taking into account: (1) all the conceivable and updated urban freight transport (UFT) measures that should apply to the specific city culture, structure and evolution, (2) all the relevant stakeholders and successfully involve them from the beginning, (3) behavioural, technical, operational, organisational and financial issues. Methods The methodology is organised and deployed in three phases, following three different approaches, i.e.: a "desk approach" for data acquisition and knowledge-based policy rankings; a "living lab approach" to foster stakeholders' engagement in co-creating policies; a "modelling approach" to evaluate policies and find/define an optimised mix of shared applicable/effective policies. Results The three-phase methodology supports public authorities in: (a) increasing knowledge and understanding of the most innovative context-specific UFT policies; (b) integrating UFT policies in strategic urban planning via collaborative participation/governance processes; (c) developing an ex-ante behaviourally consistent, financially robust and technically compatible assessment of shared UFT policy mixes while providing appropriate instruments to facilitate policy adoption and deployment. Conclusions The proposed methodology contributes to the identification and development of effective UFT solutions. Bringing together knowledge acquisition, policy co-creation, behaviour change analysis within a single methodological approach, aimed at identifying an optimised policy package, is both new and needed

Competence, interest and power in participatory transport planning: framing stakeholders in the "participation cube"

Abstract This paper presents a new procedure for a simplified stakeholder analysis aimed at categorizing transport stakeholders according to their level of competence, interest, and power in decision-making in a three-dimensional space that we call "participation cube". Knowing in advance what role each stakeholder can play in the final decision and how she/he is related to the other stakeholders can be crucial for the success of any process aimed at consensus building. A preliminary stakeholder analysis is thus needed at an early stage of transport planning. A theoretical framework is here provided, built on literature, and a practical application is presented as an example to test it in a real-world case. The aim is to help policy-makers and practitioners to understand, in advance, how to deal with stakeholders in transport planning processes with the aim to foster consensus on shared decisions

Bridging the gap between weak-demand areas and public transport using an ant-colony simulation-based optimization

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On the spatial feasibility of crowdshipping services in university communities

Abstract Crowdshipping, i.e. delivering goods via the crowd, aims at combining passenger with freight trips. This concept is particularly useful, especially in urban contexts, since it allows using the spare capacity of vehicles and reducing the negative impacts of urban freight transport. While attractive in principle, a crowdshipping service needs to be appropriately conceived to be effective. In this respect, matching passenger with freight transport demand is one of the main issues to consider. Besides, it is important to promote a sustainable crowdshipping, i.e. perfomed via sustainable transport modes. This paper presents a GIS-based approach to evaluate the spatial feasibility of crowdshipping services using public transport or active modes in the context of a University community. The case study analyzed focuses on e-commerce deliveries and takes into account a campus with venues located in different zones in the city of Catania (Italy). The methodology is designed according to spatial considerations related to the proximity of delivery points and home addresses, students' flows between origins and destinations and main mode of transport used. Results are useful to design the service in a well-established community, which could be considered more inclined to be involved

Exploring Logistics-as-a-Service to integrate the consumer into urban freight

E-commerce established the consumer as a freight actor. This new reality in the e-commerce supply chain holds economic, social, and environmental opportunities. First, logistics service providers can capitalize on the willingness to pay of consumers with tailored logistics services. Second, consumers can be confronted with the correct costs of delivery options, raising awareness and influencing their choices\u27 sustainability. Third, policymakers can steer the consumer directly, nudging their behaviour to reach urban freight policy objectives. Until now, the lack of interaction between the logistics service provider and the consumer prevented exploiting these opportunities. In this paper, we look at passenger transport, specifically the concept of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS), for inspiration on how to integrate the consumer into the logistics market. We propose conceptualizations for a Logistics-as-a-Service (LaaS) platform with different levels of integration and discuss the role of various stakeholders. We conclude with a suite of research questions that deserve attention to develop further the LaaS idea and its proof of concept for consumer logistics