A behavioral multi-agent model for road traffic simulation

Multi-agent systems allow the simulation of complex phenomena that cannot easily be described analytically. Multi-agent approaches are often based on coordinating agents whose actions and interactions are related to the emergence of the phenomenon to be simulated. In this article, we focus on road traffic simulation, specifically the design of a road traffic simulation tool able to deal realistically with road junctions. We propose a multi-agent behavioral model based on (i) the opportunistic individual behaviors that describe the norm violation and (ii) the anticipatory individual abilities of simulated drivers that allow critical situations to be detected. Our proposition has been validated for different traffic scenarios. Specifically, we simulated the traffic in a real intersection and then compared the simulated traffic flow with the real flow to highlight the relevance of our approach. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.