Three Case Studies Highlighting the Calibration of SimTraffic

The use of microscopic simulation models has continued to increase in popularity. As traffic volumes continue to increase along arterial roadway networks, macroscopic traffic operational analysis tools may reach their methodology's limitations. In addition, as funds continue to dwindle, using existing analysis tools and resources may become an issue that many practitioners and researchers may face. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the necessary steps required to successfully calibrate SimTraffic. It is well-documented that Synchro is a very user-friendly software package for analyzing traffic operations. One must remember, however, that SimTraffic is in fact a true simulation model and does require additional time and data to successfully calibrate. An overview related to three of the seven major tasks listed in FHWA's Traffic Analysis Toolbox Volume III: Guidelines for Applying Traffic Microsimulation Modeling Software manual is completed to provide users with some of the key input and simulation parameters of SimTraffic. A recommend procedure, along with a graphical flowchart, for calibrating a SimTraffic model is also presented. Three case studies are highlighted to demonstrate the various parameters that are available to the practitioner to perform the necessary calibration tasks that should be completed when using SimTraffic. A variety of statistical measures are available to the modeler to understand the correlation between the traffic simulation model and real-world traffic data. The paper highlights the statistical GEH, Root Mean Squared Percent Error (RMSP), and Correlation Coefficient (r) results of the three case studies. (A) For the covering abstract of this conference see ITRD record number 201309RT334E.

• Corporate Authors:

  INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERS. DISTRICT 7 CANADA

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Trueblood, M
• Conference:
  • CALGARY 2013 - THE MANY FACES OF TRANSPORTATION
  • Location: Calgary Alberta, Canada
  • Date: 2013-4-7 to 2013-4-10
• Publication Date: 2013

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 16 p.
• Monograph Title: Calgary 2013 - The Many Faces of Transportation - Technical Compendium

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Calibration; Case studies; Conferences; Information processing; Mathematical models; Simulation; Software; Traffic
• Uncontrolled Terms: Micro
• Geographic Terms: Canada
• ITRD Terms: 6171: Calibration; 8018: Canada; 8531: Case study; 8525: Conference; 8655: Data processing; 6473: Mathematical model; 9045: Micro; 9103: Simulation; 8645: Software; 755: Traffic
• Subject Areas: Operations and Traffic Management; I71: Traffic Theory;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01494264
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transportation Association of Canada (TAC)
• Files: ITRD, TAC
• Created Date: Sep 24 2013 12:58PM