A software architecture for artificial transportation systems - principles and framework

Artificial Transportation Systems(ATS) is an extension of the traffic micro-simulation, which integrates the transportation system with other urban systems, such as logistic systems, social and economic systems, etc., to behave as a coordinated tool for transportation analysis, evaluation, decision-making, and training. Research, especially implemental work, on ATS is far from enough. In this paper, a software architecture for ATS is proposed. Four principles of object-oriented software engineering, considerations for computational experiments and parallel systems, issues of expansibility and cooperative development for the software design and implementation, as well as a software framework, which explains the functional structure of ATS are addressed. Furthermore, the rationale behind the framework is explained, with emphasis on the discussion about transportation scenarios, the agent characteristics of travelers, and the spread and flow of information in ATS.