CALIBRATIONANDVALIDATIONOF

VISSIM MODELS VISSIMMODELS

PeterRichardsonB.Sc.,C.Eng.,MICE,MIHT
HollywoodConsultancy,
WoodfordGreen,
Essex,
England,IG89LG
StPetersburg,September2009
, 2009
Email:peter_c_richardson@hollywoodconsultancy.co.uk
Website:www.hollywoodconsultancy.co.uk
CALIBRATION & VALIDATION: BASICS CALIBRATION&VALIDATION:BASICS
Calibration is a process where the modeller selects
the correct model parameters that cause the model
to reproduce the observed traffic conditions as
accurately as possible accurately as possible.
Validation is a process where the modeller checks Validation is a process where the modeller checks
the overall model outputs for observed values of
traffic performance, e.g. traffic flows, travel times,
speeds, queues and delays. This uses data not used
in the calibration process and it can be described as
an independent check of the calibrated model an independent check of the calibrated model.
CALIBRATION CALIBRATION
Modelcalibrationconsistsof:
Networkcalibration
Tripmatrixdevelopment
Trip assignment Tripassignment
NETWORK CALIBRATION NETWORKCALIBRATION
Networkcalibrationensuresthatvehiclestravel
l th h th t k properlythroughthenetwork.
Routesandjunctionsoperatecorrectlyi.e.asobserved.
Queuesneedtobetakenintoaccount longqueues
indicateunsatisfieddemandi.e.overloading.In
congestednetworksthereali.e.demandflowsshould
beinput,nottheflowsactuallypassedbythenetwork.
NETWORKCALIBRATION
Nodesshouldbemodelledcorrectlye.g.stoplinesand
give way points as existing. givewaypointsasexisting.
Linksshouldoperateasobservede.g.lanechanges.
Vehicles should have correct free flow headways Vehiclesshouldhavecorrectfreeflowheadways.
Atsignalslanesshouldhavecorrectdischarge
rates/saturation flows and degrees of saturation rates/saturationflowsanddegreesofsaturation.
Typicaldischargerate=1800vehs/hr.
DOS t l fl *100/ i fl It h ld t DOS=actualflow*100/maximumflow.Itshouldnot
exceed100%!
V hi l h ld t l t t d i t Vehiclesshouldtravelatcorrectspeedsincorrect
lanes.
QUEUE FOR SATURATION FLOW SURVEYS QUEUEFORSATURATIONFLOWSURVEYS
CYCLES AT SIGNALS CYCLESATSIGNALS
MOTOR CYCLES AT SIGNALS MOTORCYCLESATSIGNALS
LANE USAGE LANEUSAGE
TRIPMATRIXDEVELOPMENT
TripmatrixdevelopmentensuresthattheODmatrix
(Origins and Destinations of traffic flows matrix) is as (OriginsandDestinationsoftrafficflowsmatrix)isas
accurateaspossible.Thisisparticularlyimportantfor
Dynamic Assignment as opposed to Fixed Routes DynamicAssignment,asopposedtoFixedRoutes.
WithDynamicAssignmentthemodelmustiterateto
find the best routes findthebestroutes.
Convergencecriteriaareusedtoensurethatthe
h d h b DynamicAssignmenthasconvergedtothebestOD.
WithFixedRoutesthemodelisgivensufficient
informationonajunctionbyjunctionbasisto
apportionalltrafficflows.
TRIP ASSIGNMENT TRIPASSIGNMENT
Trip assignment is how vehicles travel through Tripassignmentishowvehiclestravelthrough
networks.Thisinvolvesroutechoiceswhichdepend
on travel costs through the network ontravelcoststhroughthenetwork.
VALIDATION VALIDATION
Typicalvalidationchecksarecarriedoutonlinkflows
d li fl andscreenlineflows.
Journeytimesshouldcorrelate.
Thereisnoprecisewayofvalidatingqueuelengths
becauseofthevolatilityoftheobserveddata,i.e.it y ,
isdifficulttomeasurequeuesaccuratelywith
sufficientdetail.
Delaysatjunctions.
Routes used Routesused.
GEHVALUE
VALIDATION VALIDATION
Canbedifficult randomseedsarealsousedto
simulate traffic variability simulatetrafficvariability.
Areportshouldbepreparedtodescribehowthe
d l h b lib d d lid d modelhasbeencalibratedandvalidated.
USEFULREFERENCES
Fellendorf M and P Vortisch Validation of the Microscopic Fellendorf,M.,andP.Vortisch, ValidationoftheMicroscopic
TrafficFlowModelVISSIMinDifferentRealWorldSituations,
PaperpresentedattheAnnualMeeting,TRB,Washington,DC,
2001.
VolumeIII FHWAGuidelinesforapplyingtraffic
microsimulationmodelingsoftware,USDepartmentof
Transportation.
l 2 S i 2 i l f d & id Volume12,Section2,DesignManualforRoads&Bridges,
HighwaysAgency,London,UK.
DTO Modelling G idelines Transport for London UK DTOModellingGuidelines,TransportforLondon,UK.