Toward a Multi-agent Modelling Approach for Urban Public Transportation Systems

In this paper, a multi-agent system (MAS) for bus transportation management is presented. The aim of our MAS is 1) to diagnose problems in the bus lines (bus delays, bus advances,...) and 2) to detect inconsistency in positioning data sent by buses to the central operator. Our MAS behaves as a Multi-Agent Decision Support System (MADSS) used by human regulators in order to manage bus lines. In our model, buses and stops are modeled as autonomous agents that cooperate to detect faults (disturbances) in the transportation network. An original interaction model called ESAC (Environment as Active Communication Support) was designed to allow nonintentional as well as direct communication. The system was implemented using ILOG RULES and was tested on data coming from the Brussels bus transportation network (STIB).