Simulation modeling is an increasingly popular and effective tool for analyzing a wide variety of dynamic problems that are not amenable to study by other means. These problems are usually associated with complex processes that cannot readily be described in analytical terms. To provide an adequate test bed, the simulation model must reflect with fidelity the actual traffic-flow process. This chapter describes the traffic models that are embedded in simulation packages and the procedures that are being used to build traffic simulation models and conduct simulation experiments. The revised monograph includes new developments in traffic-flow theory since 1975.
All chapters deal with issues on a much broader basis than the previous reports.
To ensure the highest degree of reliability, accuracy, and quality in the content of this report, the collaboration of a large number of specialists was enlisted, and this report presents their cooperative efforts. A serious and commendable effort has been made by the contributing authors and reviewers of this report to present fundamental traffic-flow theories and information that will have enduring value. It is hoped that this report will be useful to the ITS community, graduate students, researchers, and practitioners, and others in the transportation profession. Dr. Henry Lieu is a research highway engineer in the Intelligent Systems and Technology Division of FHWA' s Office of Safety and Traffic Operations Research and Development. He has been working on FHWA's traffic simulation models since 1987.