Towards the next-generation traffic simulation tools: a first appraisal

Future Urban Transport (FUT) describes all desired features that are currently being envisaged within the umbrella of Intelligent Transportation Systems. With advances in computer and communication technology, elevating thus the user to a central concern rather than favoring performance only, both the scientific community and practitioners are in search for adequate ways to model and assess new performance measures brought about by FUT's requirements. After identifying such requirements, we'll try to propose taxonomy on the basis of diverse criteria to assess how suitable currently available simulation packages are to assess Future Urban Transport. Some tools are compared and their ability to suit these needs is discussed, resulting in a first appraisal of suitability of existing microscopic traffic simulation tools. On the basis of the agent metaphor and the concept of multi-agent systems, we suggest ways in which to follow up this work.