I-494 Future Improvements Evaluation with Two Traffic Simulators

In anticipation of increased traffic, many transportation agencies endeavor to redesign traffic networks to improve operational efficiency. These agencies frequently employ the strategy of increasing overall capacity. Field-testing for predicted outcomes of these improvements is usually unwieldy and inaccurate. Increasingly, highway design professionals depend on the use of simulation models to predict the consequences of their proposals. The primary advantage of simulation models in the analysis of a complex system is that models are capable of capturing the interactive effects of different components in the system. These authors have evaluated a proposed redesign of a section of the I-494 corridor using two state-of-the-art microscopic simulators: AIMSUN and VISSIM. Results are compared by assessing differences in the outcomes of the two systems and an assessment as to whether they result in similar or measurably different conclusions.