The general research area is Sustainable Transportation,
which means the development of planning methods and technologies
that allow a more environmental friendly, socially acceptable and
economically affordable transportation.
A main research topic is on planning, integration, control and
management of Personal Rapid Transit (PRT). Personal Rapid
Transit is a novel form of fully automated rail-based public
transportation, offering a taxi-like service to the user.
In particular, a PRT microsimulator has been developed that allows
detailled analysis of arbitrary PRT networks. Microsimulators are
very important for PRT as large scale, real systems do not yet
exist. This means micro-simulators are currently the only way to
develop, test and optimize PRT systems. In addition to the
micro-simulator we have developed traffic assignment models that
allow to determine static empty and full vehicle flows on a
PRT network. Furthermore, macroscopic cost-models have been
developed.
Another research branch focuses on the development of PRT control
systems and in particular the development of safe distance control
and Automated Vehicle Protection (AVP).
A recent, more exploratory research topic is on PRT and soft modes:
How can walking and cycling be integrated with PRT to offer a
sustainable service in a car-free, urban environment?
Activities of this topic include various planning projects of
future, car-free cities and the integration of soft modes into the
micro-simulator software.
The general research area is Sustainable Transportation,
which means the development of planning methods and technologies
that allow a more environmental friendly, socially acceptable and
economically affordable transportation.
A main research topic is on planning, integration, control and
management of Personal Rapid Transit (PRT). Personal Rapid Transit
is a novel form of fully automated rail-based public
transportation, offering a taxi-like service to the user.
In particular, a PRT microsimulator has been developed that
allows detailed analysis of arbitrary PRT networks and compare results to conventional traffic modes. This simulator, called SUMOPy is an extention of the open-source traffic micro-simulator SUMO. Microsimulators are very important for PRT as large scale,
real systems do not yet exist. This means micro-simulators
are currently the only way to develop, test and optimize PRT
systems. In addition to the micro-simulator we have developed traffic assignment models that allow to
determine static empty and full vehicle flows on a PRT network. Furthermore, macroscopic cost-models have been
developed.
A recent, more exploratory research topic is on
developing tools for building a transport digital twin of a city using the micro-simulator software SUMO, SUMOPy and Unreal Engine.
