Modeling carsharing with the agent-based simulation MATSim: State of the art, applications, and future developments

Abstract

Extensive literature already exists on carsharing and other shared modes, but understanding their effect on the transportation system requires additional work. One main limit of the existing research is that such modes have been analyzed mostly as isolated systems. As these modes were niche products, it was not easy to include them in comprehensive models of transport, and, in a way, it did not even make sense. But the modes’ current popularity and their expected growth completely change the picture. Transport model systems in which such mobility concepts will be explicitly modeled—along with all other modes—will be crucial in the near future to gain an insight into travel behavior effects and to assess possible future scenarios representing the effect of long-term mobility decisions. This paper describes how carsharing demand is modeled in an activity-based multiagent simulation of transport called MATSim (www.matsim.org). The paper draws from a series of papers written by the authors between 2009 and 2015 and is part of a research effort whose ultimate goal is to build a predictive and policy-sensitive model that can be used by practitioners and policy makers to test any type of carsharing scenario. This paper summarizes the work done, provides some examples of applications, addresses current limitations, and briefly reports on ongoing and planned developments.