Towards Proactive and Flexible Agent-Based Generation of Policy Packages for Active Transportation

Abstract

One of the approaches gaining ground in policy design is the implementation of combinations of policy measures as policy packages with the aim of increasing efficiency and effectiveness of the designed policies. In this paper, we describe the recent advancements in the developments of a virtual environment for the exploration and analysis of policy packages. The virtual environment uses an agent-based modelling approach for the generation of different configurations of policy measures in the policy packages. The benefit of using the approach is the proactive and flexible generation of policy packages as the agents can react to the changes that occur and create packages that are more robust. The system allows faster examination of more alternatives, further exploration of the design space, and testing the effects of changes and uncertainties while formulating policies. The results demonstrate the benefit of using agent-based modelling approaches in the design of complex policies.

A Case Study of Complex Policy Design: The Systems Engineering Approach

“…Earlier work on policy design and policy formulation methodology was based on dynamic modelling approaches such as network analysis [13], agent-based modelling (ABM) [39], and multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) [40]. Taeihagh et al [15] introduced ABM to formulation of transport policies and proposed a systematic approach for use of a virtual environment for the exploration and analysis of different configurations of policy measures.…”