Implementation of a cost-benefit analysis of Demand-Responsive Transport with a Multi-Agent Transport Simulation

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that MATSim traffic simulation software is suitable for conducting cost-benefit analyses of Demand-Responsive Transport services, providing a practical guide for transport economists and researchers.

Contribution

It evaluates MATSim's capability for DRT cost-benefit analysis and offers a user manual for building extendable simulation scenarios.

Findings

MATSim can incorporate internal and external costs like emissions.

The software is suitable for long-term DRT assessment.

Scenarios can be extended with local mobility data.

Abstract

In this paper, the technical requirements to perform a cost-benefit analysis of a Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) service with the traffic simulation software MATSim are elaborated in order to achieve the long-term goal of assessing the introduction of a DRT service in G\"ottingen and the surrounding area. The aim was to determine if the software is suitable for a cost-benefit analysis while providing a user manual for building a basic simulation that can be extended with public transport and DRT. The main result is that the software is suitable for a cost-benefit analysis of a DRT service. In particular, the most important internal and external costs, such as usage costs of the various modes of transport and emissions, can be integrated into the simulation scenarios. Thus, the scenarios presented in this paper can be extended by data from a mobility study of G\"ottingen and its surroundings in order to achieve the long-term goal. This paper is aimed at transport economists and researchers who are not familiar with MATSim, to provide them with a guide for the first steps in working with a traffic simulation software.