Proposed benchmarks for PRT networks simulation

Abstract

Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is a promising form of urban transport. Its operation consists in the use of small unmanned vehicles which convey the passengers among stations within a dedicated network. Various aspects of the PRT network performance are frequently evaluated using the discrete-event simulation. The paper supports the need of establishing some reference models for the simulation of PRT networks, targeted mainly towards the needs of the research on network management algorithms. Three models of such PRT network models are proposed and discussed. The presented models can play the role of benchmarks which would be very useful for comparative evaluation of heuristic control algorithms, developed by different research groups.