DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTEGRATED NETWORK SIMULATOR FOR REAL TIME TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT: I-95/US-1 TRAFFIC SIMULATOR

Abstract

This study presents a network simulator that integrates the knowledge base with a microscopic traffic simulation model for real-time traffic management. The proposed system offers three main functions: incident management, work-zone operations and recurrent congestion monitoring. The knowledge base is used to inventory the operational experience and traffic impacts associated with all previously recorded incidents. Such information will be used along with an embedded prediction module to estimate the duration of a detected incident. The proposed system will enable traffic control operators to perform two critical tasks during the incident management period: (1) establishing a reliable estimate of traffic impacts; and (2) performing a subsequent real-time analysis of network traffic conditions. The simulation results will also offer information for estimating travel time at varying departure times for different origins and destinations during the period of incident operations.