Abstract: The article presents the issues of using the PTV VISSIM system for microscopic modeling and simulation of traffic flow for a real fragment of a network. First, the issue of traffic modeling and simulation is outlined, and the VISSIM system is presented. The following part describes the progress of work on the model, followed by the simulation results along with a discussion of the model calibration process. Then, the authors performed a brief analysis of the results and compared them to the actual state and the results obtained in previous works using the SUMO and TRANSIMS systems. The article concludes with a summary of the work performed.1. MODELING AND SIMULATION
Reliably describing traffic is not a trivial task. So far, many models describing vehicle flow have been developed; unfortunately, none of them can be called ideal or universal. In general, four basic classes of traffic models can be distinguished [1]: macroscopic [2], mesoscopic, microscopic [3], and submicroscopic. Macroscopic models are used where detailed information about the behavior of individual vehicles is not required, but only a general qualitative assessment of traffic on a larger and more complex road network configuration, i.e., in regional planning. In turn, microscopic models allow for obtaining estimates that are, admittedly, quite reliable information about the behavior of individual vehicles. For this reason, they can be used mainly in relation to smaller-scale communication systems, but with a higher level of detail.
2. VISSIM SYSTEM
VISSIM is a paid microscopic traffic flow simulation system from the German company PTV [4]. In terms of car-following modeling, it uses the psychophysiological driver behavior model by Wiedemann [5]. This model includes a description of the influence of perception shown by drivers on the decision-making process regarding the choice of driving speed. The rule-based lane-changing model also originates from Wiedemann’s work [6]. In the VISSIM system, the classic approach to modeling a road network using a directed graph consisting of vertices (nodes) and edges (links) is not used. (…)
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Source: Logistyka Magazine 3/2010
Traffic microsimulation for an urban area using the VISSIM system – PDF file for download