Microscopic traffic simulation with reactive driving agents

Computer traffic simulation is important for making new traffic-control strategies. Microscopic traffic simulators can model traffic flow in a realistic manner and are ideal for agent-based vehicle control. In this paper we describe a model of a reactive agent that is used to control a simulated vehicle. The agent is capable of tactical-level driving and has different driving styles. To ensure fast reaction times, the agent’s driving task is divided in several competing and reactive behavior rules. The agent is implemented in and tested with a prototype traffic simulator program. The simulator consists of an urban environment with multi-lane roads, intersections, traffic lights, and vehicles. Every vehicle is controlled by a driving agent and all agents have individual behavior settings. Preliminary experiments have shown that the agents exhibit human-like behavior ranging from slow and careful to fast and aggressive driving behavior. Index terms – artificial intelligence, traffic simulation, multiagent systems, driving behavior