Present and future of simulation traffic models

Abstract

In transportation research, simulation technologies have acquired a huge relevance since they permit to reproduce, under controllable conditions, different scenarios with a growing degree of complexity. In this sense, a general trend can be anticipated here since it represents one of the backbone of this paper. The simulators of traffic scenario are enlarging the numbers of factors to be considered, from the sole link between vehicles and driving environment to a joint scenario in which drivers' intentions, autonomous behaviours of different vehicles and adaptive technologies (providing ad-hoc reactions according to specific driving conditions) are all together considered and computed. Therefore, the more the complexity grows, the more the network of factors influencing the reliability of these scenarios becomes articulated. © 2007 Springer-Verlag London.