State-of-the-Practice of a State Utilization of Traffic Simulation: Case Study of Florida, U.S.

Abstract

Traffic simulation tools are widely used in analyzing and enhancing the forecasting, planning, design, operations, and management of transportation systems. Despite the increasing use of traffic simulation through the years, there are still many needs and issues facing transportation agencies and modelers in their use of traffic simulation. These needs and issues have not been sufficiently surveyed and summarized in the literature. The goal of this study is to identify the current applications, needs, and issues of traffic simulation modeling based on a survey of public and private agencies in Florida, U.S. The study conducted an online survey of traffic simulation modelers in Florida, followed by phone interviews with a subset of the respondents to the survey. The survey addressed the types of the utilized traffic analysis and simulation tools, utilized simulation guidance, utilized traffic data and performance measures, calibration processes and resources utilized by agencies, the current practice of future year demand forecasting, and perspective on the simulation of emerging technologies. The results from this study will help understand the present situation of applying traffic simulation and future needs to enhance simulation modeling capabilities and practices.