Demand data modelling for microscopic traffic simulation

Abstract

The current paper aim is to present the technique of demand data modelling for microscopic simulation of the traffic flows. Traffic microscopic simulation is a powerful decision supporting tool, which could be applied for a wide range of tasks. In a past microscopic traffic simulation was used to test local changes in transport infrastructure, but the growth of computers performance allows now to simulate wide-scale fragments of the traffic network and to apply more advanced traffic flow simulation approaches, like an example dynamic assignment (DA). The results, obtained in the frame of this research are part of the project completed for one of the shopping malls (Riga, Latvia). The goal of the project was to evaluate different development scenarios of the transport network to raise the accessibility of the shopping mall. The number of practical issues in the frame of this project pushed to develop a new technique to model the demand data for the simulation model. As a traffic flow simulation tool, the PTV VISSIM simulation software was applied. The developed model was based on dynamic assignment approach. To complete the simulation the demand data was represented in two forms: 1) OD matrix for regular traffic in the transport network; 2) trip-chain file for a description of the pass-by and targeted trips.