A first look at bridging choice modeling and agent-based microsimulation in MATSim

Sebastian Hörl (presenting)

Milos Balac

Kay W. Axhausen

 

ABTMRANS Workshop 2018

Best paper award
 

Porto, 11 May 2018

Initial Idea

  • Much work and effort put into choice modeling at IVT

 

  • Discrete choice models are readily available
    • Microcensus on Transport and Mobility
    • Autonomous vehicles

 

  • How to make use of them in MATSim?

Example: Multinomial logit model

P(k) = \frac{\exp(u_k)}{\sum_i \exp(u_i)}
u_{walking} = ?
u_{cycling} = ?
u_{car} = ?
u_{pt} = ?

Making discrete choices

  • Score (utility) for each available
    choice with deterministic and
    random component


 

  • Choice model


 

  • Choice sampling

 

U_i=V_i+\epsilon_i
k = \text{argmax}_i \{ U_i,...,U_N \}
P(k) = \frac{\exp(U_k)}{\sum_i \exp(U_i)}

Making discrete choices

Making discrete choices

  • Walking
    • Travel Time:
       
  • Cycling
    • Travel Time:
       
  • Car
    • Travel Time:
    • Cost:
  • Public Transport
    • Travel Time:
    • Access Time:
    • Waiting Time:
    • Number of transfers:
    • Cost:

 

 

V_{walking} = ?
V_{cycling} = ?
V_{car} = ?
V_{pt} = ?

Making discrete choices

V_{walking} = ?
V_{cycling} = ?
V_{car} = ?
V_{pt} = ?
P(walking) = ?
P(cycling) = ?
P(car) = ?
P(pt) = ?

Making discrete choices

  • Probabilistic choice interpretation

     
  • More complex models available
    • Nested Logit
    • Mixed Logit
    • ...

 

Mode choice in MATSim

Almost purely random proposition of new plan

Score-based selection of plan from memory

Simulation

Scoring

Clean-up of worst plans until N are left

Initial execution is

necessary before

selection makes sense

First idea of integration

  • Selection between chains
     
  • Two components:
    1. Choice set generation
    2. A priori mode choice based on estimated travel characteristics

Choice set generation

  • Obtain the set of all possible chains of modes for a given chain of trips with origin and destination
    • Constrained by agent-level attributes (e.g. car availability)
    • Constrained by continuity constraints (e.g. vehicle location)
       
  • Maximum set:
     
  • Feasible set:
|\mathcal{C}| = M^N
|\mathcal{C}_f \subset \mathcal{C}| = M^N - q

Choice set generation

\mathcal{C} = \left\{ (\text{walk}, \text{walk}, \text{walk}, \text{walk}, \text{walk}), ... \right\}

Start

Choice set generation

\mathcal{C} = \left\{ (\text{walk}, \text{walk}, \text{walk}, \text{walk}, \text{walk}), \right.
\left. (\text{car}, \text{car}, \text{car}, \text{car}, \text{car}), ... \right\}

Start

Choice set generation

\mathcal{C} = \left\{ (\text{walk}, \text{walk}, \text{walk}, \text{walk}, \text{walk}), \right.
\left. (\text{car}, \text{car}, \text{car}, \text{car}, \text{car}), \right.
\left. (\text{car}, \text{walk}, \text{public transit}, \text{car}, \text{car}), ... \right\}

Start

Selection procedure

  • Problem: How to use a trip-based mode choice model for a whole chain?
  • Three (imperfect) approaches
\tilde u_k = \sum_i u_{k,i}(\theta_{k,i})
k = \text{argmax}_k \left \{ \tilde u_1, ..., \tilde u_K \right \}
\tilde z_k = \sum_i u_{k,i} + \epsilon_{k,i}

Best response selection

k = \text{argmax}_k \left \{ \tilde z_1, ..., \tilde z_K \right \}

Total chain utility sampling

k \sim \text{Cat}(\tilde \pi_1, ..., \tilde \pi_K)

Naive chain sampling

with

\epsilon_{k,i} \sim \text{Gumbel}

and

\tilde \pi_k = \tilde w_k / \left( \sum_{k'} \tilde w_{k'} \right)
\tilde w_k = \prod_i \tilde \pi_{k,i}
\tilde \pi_{k,i} = \mathbb{P}(\hat \theta_{k,i})

First simulation results

  • Teleportation-based simulation
    • Best-response is upper bound
    • Fast convergence for tested approaches vs SMC

First simulation results

  • Network-based simulation
    • Best-response is not upper bound

Conclusions from our experiment

  • Questionable to draw conclusions from trip-based model in chain-based environment (MATSim)
     
  • Choice model makes life easier - we can argue to skip some calibration work, faster convergence
     
  • Choice model makes life harder - we need to come up with good estimates for the trip characteristics
     
  • Which one is right?

Mode choice in MATSim

If memory size exceeds limit Then
    - Remove plan with worst score in memory
    
    If the removed plan was selected Then
        - Select random plan from the remaining ones

    End If

End If
        
- Choose a strategy by probability (given whether innovation is already turned off)
 

If chosen strategy is a selection strategy:
    - Select new plan from existing ones according to strategy

Else (it is an innovation strategy)
    - Copy a random plan from the existing ones and set as selected plan
    - Apply mutation strategy to the newly selected plan

End If

Some thoughts on choice making in MATSim

  • Imagine a MATSim run without innovation
    • Choice set per agent is changed continuously
       
    • Worst plan removal strategy has biggest influence on the procession of the choice set
       
    • Choice set collapses for high number of iterations
       
    • Finally, M plans with momentarily best score for the agent = (Stochastic) User Equilibrium

Some thoughts on choice making in MATSim

  • Except, there is innovation
    • Random new plan in X% of iterations (e.g. every 20th)
    • Early stopping after N iterations to maintain variability
       
  • So ...
    • MATSim is a global search algorithm for the UE
    • MATSim stops optimizing early to maintain a notion of a discrete plan choice

Short detour: One-agent toy examples

  • Numerical experiment: One agent, four plans with predefined utilities
  • Run MATSim selection / innovation procedure

Short detour: One-agent toy examples

  • Now without innovation after 300 iterations

The best of both worlds?

Model-based proposition of plans

MATSim scoring and selection

Estimates (model input)

Sampling of relevant alternatives

  • Improves convergence
     
  • Avoids "innovation turn-off"
     
  • May introduce bias through estimates
  • Maintains stability


     
  • Compensates for estimation bias

The best of both worlds?

Model-based proposition of plans

MATSim scoring and selection

Estimates (model input)

Sampling of relevant alternatives

  • Condition: Any feasible can be sampled with non-zero probability
     
  • The code is there (for mode choice)
    • Chain sampler is available, scoring framework is available
    • MATSim choice procedure is available

Can we do better?

  • Why evolutionary algorithm? Notouriously hard to treat theoretically.
     
  • We have:
    • Prior score (during plan sampling)
    • Posterior score (after simulation)
       
  • Apply any rejection sampling approach (simulated annealing, Metropolis Hastings) on one plan per agent



     
  • Natural convergence measure: Prior score vs. posterior score

Propose plan

Simulate plan

Score plan

Accept / Reject plan

a(s,s')=\max(1, \exp((s' - s)/\sigma))

Thanks!

Questions?

ABMTRANS 2018

By Sebastian Hörl

ABMTRANS 2018

11 May April 2018, Porto

  • 888