Evaluation of Market Requirements and Offered Functionalities in Traffic Simulation Systems Supporting Advanced Traffic Management Systems

Traffic simulation systems have always been used for the purpose of traffic modeling, planning and to compare different strategies in traffic control during simulations. For some years, these systems are also used for real-time simulation in Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS). Extending the simulation software’s field of application also means facing new challenges to fulfill customer needs. For that reason, capabilities of traffic simulation systems, which are used for real-time traffic estimation and short-time traffic prediction on urban, inter-urban and rural road networks, and the customer expectations were conducted in this study. This evaluation is part of the ongoing project “Intelligent Transport Systems Austria West” (ITSAW). The goal of the ITSAW project is the development of an integrated traffic data platform which offers traffic information and services to the Traffic Information Austria (VAO), regional governments, authorities and municipalities. In fact, up-to-date travel times, travel time forecasts and level-of-service indicators are provided. The aim of this work package is to provide the Provincial Government of Upper Austria with information about the benefits and limitations of currently used traffic simulation systems. Therefore, finding from two evaluations were compared. In fact, one evaluation focused on market requirements and the other explored support features. Since the late 1990’s, at least 24 comparison studies concerning simulation software have been conducted. However, by analyzing these evaluations in a literature review, it appears that no comprehensive comparison study has been published since the SMARTEST project in 2000 by the University of Leeds. and no satisfying study regarding market requirements. To evaluate the supported features, 65 developers and product managers have been invited to participate in an online survey. They were asked to give a statement on the current state of development and the further development of traffic simulation systems. Another questionnaire was sent to experts and users evaluating their demands for traffic simulation systems. The findings of this survey will be consolidated in a new quantitative questionnaire through a content analysis. Afterwards, the new questionnaire will be sent again to the same participants. Both, developer and user questionnaires, are finally compared to deduce strengths and weaknesses of traffic simulation systems from the results. Additionally, the results may include future requirements which developers and researches will have to deal with in the next few years.