An Agent-Based Home Exchange Model to Reduce Commute Times of University Students

Abstract

<p>This article reports results of a study on reducing commute times in Istanbul, Turkey with special reference to university students. In order to reduce commute times in cities with high population density, this study proposes a mutual home exchange model for university students. The proposed model searches for suitable matches that can reduce commute times for residents in the case that they want to exchange their houses. A new matching algorithm has been designed in the context of this study. Agent-based approach has been preferred to define and solve home exchange problem and each home location is considered as an agent. Furthermore, two main one-sided matching algorithms, which are Irving’s Stable Roommate matching algorithm and Gale’s Top Trading Cycles matching algorithm, have been implemented for the home exchange problem. The proposed algorithm and two matching algorithms have been applied on a virtual data. The results of home exchange matching algorithms are presented.</p>