Environmental Equity Analysis in Agent-Based Transport Simulations: A Study on Causation and Exposure

This paper utilizes an agent-based transport simulation to analyze environmental equity issues for the example of road traffic noise in the greater Berlin metropolitan area. We investigate the distribution of noise exposure and causation linked to individual agents. In addition, spatial patterns at the community level are analyzed. Results confirm agent-based models’ suitability for equity analyses as they can represent detailed exposure and causation levels. We find that the causation of noise is considerably more unequally distributed than the exposure thereof. In addition, suburban environments tend to cause significant shares of noise in the metropolitan cities.     «

This paper utilizes an agent-based transport simulation to analyze environmental equity issues for the example of road traffic noise in the greater Berlin metropolitan area. We investigate the distribution of noise exposure and causation linked to individual agents. In addition, spatial patterns at the community level are analyzed. Results confirm agent-based models’ suitability for equity analyses as they can represent detailed exposure and causation levels. We find that the causation of noise...     »