The main modern traffic simulation tools

Abstract

Problem statement. Managing the vehicle flow is a serious problem nowadays. It is a questionable task because of the number of parameters needed to be taken into account.

Analyzing of the resent research. Attempts to produce a mathematical theory of traffic flow date back to the 1920s, when Frank Knight first produced an analysis of traffic equilibrium, which was refined into Wardrop's first and second principles of equilibrium in 1952.

A lot of scientists all over the world such as R. Kartabaev, V. Syl'yanov, F. Kheyta, D. Dryu et al. we’re working on the problem of traffic control. However, their research was being conducted long ago. In the modern world the new software has been developed to make the traffic flow managing process easier. The existing simulation tools are divided into two: macro– and micromodels.

Research objective. The aim of the article is to classify main modern traffic simulation tools and give the description of them. The author characterises the main steps to be done for traffic flow estimation and control.

Conclusions. Even with the advent of significant computer processing power, nowadays there has been no satisfactory general theory that can be consistently applied to real traffic flow conditions. Current traffic models use a mixture of empirical and theoretical techniques. These models are then developed into traffic forecasts, to take account of proposed local or major changes, such as increased vehicle use, changes in land use or changes in mode of transport, and to identify areas of congestion where the network needs to be adjusted.

A considerable quantity of motor cars has recently appeared. Traffic phenomena are complex and nonlinear, depending on the interactions of a large number of vehicles. Due to the individual reactions of human drivers, vehicles do not interact simply following the laws of mechanics, but rather show phenomena of cluster formation and shock wave propagation, both forward and backward, depending on vehicle density in a given area. Some mathematical models in traffic flow make use of a vertical queue assumption, where the vehicles along a congested link do not spill back along the length of the link. Modern simulation tools description and classification is done in the main part. Due to the use simlicity, high adaptivity, qualitative modelling, the most used and popular tools are VISSIM, PARAMICS и AIMSUN.