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An Evaluation of Agent-Based Models for Simulating E-Scooter Sharing Services in Urban Areas

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Smart Energy for Smart Transport (CSUM 2022)

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Abstract

The electric scooter (e-scooter) is an increasingly popular transport mode in urban areas at global level. As an alternative form of shared micromobility in cities, e-scooter sharing systems were first introduced in the United States in 2017. Since then, they have spread in Europe, Asia, and Australia. In order to evaluate their sustainability performance, shared e-scooters should be simulated or/and measure their real-life impacts; however, a universal evaluation process for selecting a simulation platform does not exist. This study seeks to better understand the impacts of micromobility and simulation platforms for urban areas. To achieve this a two-stage evaluation process is performed. At first, the study reviews and analyzes the most common simulation models (i.e., traffic simulation and Agent-based Model (ABM) platforms). Seven ABM platforms are identified as suitable for simulating transportation modes. The seven identified ABM platforms are explored and evaluated based on a set of indicators representing four dimensions: 1) Functionality, 2) Capabilities, 3) Data, and 4) Operational Capacity. In the second-stage evaluation the seven ABM platforms are further evaluated for simulating micromobility against ten proposed criteria. The ABM platform Multi-Agent Transport Simulation Toolkit (MATSim) emerges as the most prevalent for simulating e-scooters in urban areas as it meets nine of the ten introduced criteria and it has the potential to be adapted effectively in the simulation of new innovative transport services.

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Funding

This research has been co-financed by the European Union and Greece, National Strategic Reference Framework 2014–2020 (NSRF), through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, under the call RESEARCH – CREATE –INNOVATE (project code: T2EDK-02494).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Technical University of Athens, Zografou Campus, 157 80, Athens, Attiki, Greece

    Eirini Stavropoulou, Lambros Mitropoulos, Panagiotis G. Tzouras, Christos Karolemeas & Konstantinos Kepaptsoglou

Authors
  1. Eirini Stavropoulou
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  2. Lambros Mitropoulos
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  3. Panagiotis G. Tzouras
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  4. Christos Karolemeas
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  5. Konstantinos Kepaptsoglou
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eirini Stavropoulou .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece

    Eftihia G. Nathanail

  2. Department of Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece

    Nikolaos Gavanas

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece

    Giannis Adamos

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Stavropoulou, E., Mitropoulos, L., Tzouras, P.G., Karolemeas, C., Kepaptsoglou, K. (2023). An Evaluation of Agent-Based Models for Simulating E-Scooter Sharing Services in Urban Areas. In: Nathanail, E.G., Gavanas, N., Adamos, G. (eds) Smart Energy for Smart Transport. CSUM 2022. Lecture Notes in Intelligent Transportation and Infrastructure. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23721-8_79

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23721-8_79

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