Mobilytics-Gym: A Simulation Framework for Analyzing Urban Mobility Decision Strategies

Abstract

The rise in deep learning models in recent years has led to various innovative solutions for intelligent transportation technologies. Use of personal and on-demand mobility services puts a strain on the existing road network in a city. To mitigate this problem, city planners need a simulation framework to evaluate the effect of any incentive policy in nudging commuters towards alternate modes of travel, such as bike and car-share options. In this paper, we leverage MATSim, an agent-based simulation framework, to integrate agent preference models that capture the altruistic behavior of an agent in addition to their disutility proportional to the travel time and cost. These models are learned in a data-driven approach and can be used to evaluate the sensitivity of an agent to system-level disutility and monetary incentives given, e.g., by the transportation authority. This framework provides a standardized environment to evaluate the effectiveness of any particular incentive policy of a city, in nudging its residents towards alternate modes of transportation. We show the effectiveness of the approach and provide analysis using a case study from the Metropolitan Nashville area.