Modeling Transportation Systems

Monte Carlo simulation is an invaluable tool for studying transportation systems and solving their attendant problems. Generally, strategic decisions concerning transportation systems often involve identifying system capacities and eliminating bottlenecks so as to increase system throughput. The associated operations are extremely expensive, and therefore need to be studied carefully before any action is taken. Fortunately, simulation studies can be helpful and even instrumental in identifying correct designs for large-scale transportation projects. Transportation-related simulation models employ entities to model the moving objects, such as cars, trucks, trains, planes, ships, tugboats, humans, and so on. Contention for transportation-oriented service by entities is modeled through resources, such as road pavement, traffic lights, tollbooths, airport taxiways and runways, and berths and piers, as well as material handling equipment. To make modeling more realistic, resources may experience stoppages for various reasons (failures, weather, strikes, etc.), which can further exacerbate delays in the system. This chapter provides an overview of Arena facilities for modeling transportation systems. Their use is illustrated in a number of transportation-related examples.