Modelling Shared Space: An Organized Chaos

Abstract

Increased traffic pressures in the city of Amsterdam are leading to a lack of space for cyclists and pedestrians. In search of creative solutions the municipality of Amsterdam has chosen to implement a Shared Space area next to the ferry docks at Amsterdam Central Station. This research has sought to simulate and analyze the movements and interactions of the users of this Shared Space, by developing an Agent Based Model. In order to gain insight into the amount of people the Shared Space can handle, a number of real-life scenarios were tested, varying in agent densities, ratios and traveling directions. The main results suggest risks of unacceptably low average velocities are greater than risks of increasing amounts of agent conflicts.