Browsing by Subject "Microscopic simulation"

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    Access to Destinations: Twin Cities Metro-wide Traffic Micro-simulation Feasibility Investigation
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2008-05) Hourdos, John; Michalopoulos, Panos
    The economic importance of effective traffic management becomes more and more evident as traffic demands increase. Faced with the negative effects of traffic congestion including higher transport costs, greater energy consumption, and increased driver delays, transportation agencies around the world areas have responded by building new roads and enhancing their traffic management systems. However, the high costs associated with these projects, and the possibility that improvements in different parts of a complex traffic management system may give rise to unforeseen interactions, have prompted many metropolitan areas to invest in the creation of metro-wide simulation systems that support the evaluation of alternative traffic management scenarios across an entire traffic network. Such undertakings are far from simple; even small-scale microscopic simulations require large amounts of high-quality data. The objectives of this project were to evaluate the feasibility of developing a traffic simulation system for the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, and to propose the most appropriate methodology for the design and implementation of such a system, taking into account local needs and capabilities.
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    Development of Real-Time Traffic Adaptive Crash Reduction Measures for the Westbound I-94/35W Commons Section
    (University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies, 2008-12) Hourdos, John; Xin, Wuping; Michalopoulos, Panos
    Much research has been conducted in the development, implementation, and evaluation of innovative ITS technologies aiming to improve traffic operations and driving safety. An earlier project succeeded in supporting the hypothesis that certain traffic conditions are favorable to crashes and in developing real-time algorithms for the estimation of crash probability from detector measurements. Following this accomplishment a natural question is “how can this help prevent crashes?” This project has the ambitious plan of not only answering this question but also providing a multifaceted approach that can offer different types of solutions to an agency aimed at reducing crashes in this and other similar locations. This project has two major objectives; first it aimed at utilizing a cutting edge 3D virtual reality system to design and visualize different driver warning systems specifically for the I-94 westbound high crash location in Minneapolis, MN. Second, in view of the desire of local engineers for a more traditional approach, this project explored the use of existing micro-simulation models in the evaluation of safety improvements for the aforementioned high crash area. This report describes the results of these investigations but more importantly describes the lessons learned in the process of the research. These lessons are important because they highlight gaps of technology and knowledge that hampered this and other research projects with similar objectives.