TY - JOUR
T1 - Critical Assessment of Microscopic Simulation Models for Simulating Turbulence around Motorway Ramps
AU - Van Beinum, Aries
AU - Broekman, Erik
AU - Farah, Haneen
AU - Schakel, Wouter
AU - Wegman, Fred
AU - Hoogendoorn, Serge
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - In current motorway design practice, microscopic simulation is used to assess the traffic safety and capacity implications of design variants. Many different simulation packages are available, and many researchers have invested effort in improving and calibrating models that describe driving behavior. This paper examines traffic simulation models for merging situations in high traffic volume. Based on a multicriteria analysis, two simulation software packages (VISSIM version 10 and MOTUS) were selected and calibrated using a recently collected set of rich empirical trajectory data from an on-ramp, an off-ramp, and two weaving segments in the Netherlands. The results show that both packages are as yet unable to simulate turbulent traffic around motorway ramps realistically, in terms of lane change locations and headway distribution. This is a drawback when assessing traffic operations for specific designs. The simulated gap acceptance distributions were found to have comparable shapes as they were derived from empirical data. This is an advantage when assessing the traffic safety of a specific design.
AB - In current motorway design practice, microscopic simulation is used to assess the traffic safety and capacity implications of design variants. Many different simulation packages are available, and many researchers have invested effort in improving and calibrating models that describe driving behavior. This paper examines traffic simulation models for merging situations in high traffic volume. Based on a multicriteria analysis, two simulation software packages (VISSIM version 10 and MOTUS) were selected and calibrated using a recently collected set of rich empirical trajectory data from an on-ramp, an off-ramp, and two weaving segments in the Netherlands. The results show that both packages are as yet unable to simulate turbulent traffic around motorway ramps realistically, in terms of lane change locations and headway distribution. This is a drawback when assessing traffic operations for specific designs. The simulated gap acceptance distributions were found to have comparable shapes as they were derived from empirical data. This is an advantage when assessing the traffic safety of a specific design.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85075871918&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1061/JTEPBS.0000296
DO - 10.1061/JTEPBS.0000296
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85075871918
SN - 2473-2907
VL - 146
JO - Journal of Transportation Engineering Part A: Systems
JF - Journal of Transportation Engineering Part A: Systems
IS - 2
M1 - 04019066
ER -