Published In: Pakistan Journal of Engineering and Technology, PakJET

Abstract:

With increasing urbanization, the importance of intelligent transportation system (ITS) has become paramount for devising future smart cities. ITSs encompassing policy, planning, designing, management and traffic engineering plays an oversized role in making urban mobility efficient. In this regard, various traffic simulation software (TSS) have been developed for efficient road network planning, designing and management. In this work, a comprehensive comparative analysis has been undertaken to assess different TSS. For this purpose, twenty-nine simulation software have been explored, analyzed and compared to assess their suitability for different real world traffic flow scenarios. For this assessment, considered parameters ranged from traffic behavior (homogeneous or heterogeneous), traffic flow models (microscopic, macroscopic or mesoscopic), traffic models (such as car following, lane changing), system (discrete or continuous) and availability (open source or commercial). Furthermore, viability of each TSS for different road infrastructure (such as intersections, urban roads, freeways, land use to name a few) is reported. Though no single simulation software can cover every aspect of road network simulation. However, this work can facilitate researchers in selecting the most appropriate TSS according to local traffic conditions and project under investigation.