Microsimulation: Monitoring road behaviour in 'real time': With increasing computer power the visualisation side of traffic modelling is coming to the fore - though the basic task is still to model traffic flows

摘要

"If you don't have 3D display capacity these days you will not win the more interesting and complicated jobs," believes Jakob Schwarz at Danish consultant CarlBro. And 3D capacity means first and foremost the microsimulation model for traffic. Traffic analysis models have been used since the 1980s, primarily built at static type network analysers, such as TRIPS, Saturn and Emme2. These use algorithms built on mathematical equations to calculate flow levels in the connections within a network. Once a network is built up and the parameters entered, the models run repeatedly adjusting flows in various part of the net according to results generated in other parts, and then readjusting as the new results feed back around. After a period an equilibrium is achieved which gives an output measure of predicted demands and flows. These models are powerful and have continued to develop, often with newly added visual interfaces. But a new type of model - the dynamic model - has emerged.