Analysis of Requirements for Next-Generation Complex Urban and Transportation System Simulation

Transportation planning progressively includes more parameters with new technologies emerging, new problems and factors being considered, and the importance of interactions with other urban domains being realized. To evaluate the operations of a transportation system, simulation is widely used. However, state-of-art simulation tools do not cover all desired parameters. This paper analyzes the functional requirements for next-generation complex urban and transportation system simulation. For this purpose, we have assessed the existing practices, needs, and limitations imposed by system complexity. To address identified challenges, an overall conceptual model for a next-generation simulation tool was synthesized. The obtained conclusions can be further used in the development of simulation environments. Directions for further research are discussed.