The role of computer-generated role-playing in travel behaviour analysis

Abstract

Increasing traffic problems have forced policy makers around the world to look at new policy options: traffic restraint, electronic road user charging, information provision and advanced traffic management systems. This paper argues that the planning tools available to the policy makers to evaluate these options have not kept up with these changes. The central shortcoming is the lack of understanding of household and individual scheduling of resources, especially of time resources. The paper argues that the most fruitful way to address this issue is the adoption of computer-generated `role-playing' based on the daily problem solving methods of the travellers. The paper briefly reviews the econometric work on household and individual scheduling to provide the background for the further discussion. The available work on `rules', `heuristics' and `constraints' is recognized to provide the elements necessary to describe the problem solving behaviour of the travellers for travel behaviour research. The paper concludes with a discussion of research issues arising from the adoption of household scheduling as the central issue for computer-generated role-playing.