Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. The name is derived from "Verkehr In Städten - SIMulationsmodell" (German for "Traffic in cities - simulation model"). PTV Vissim was first developed in 1992 and is today a global
market leader
Market dominance describes when a firm can control markets. A dominant firm possesses the power to affect competition and influence market price. A firms' dominance is a measure of the power of a brand, product, service, or firm, relative to c ...
.
Scope of application
The scope of application ranges from various issues of traffic engineering (
transport engineering
Transportation engineering or transport engineering is the application of technology and scientific principles to the planning, functional design, operation and management of facilities for any mode of transportation in order to provide for th ...
,
transportation planning
Transportation planning is the process of defining future policies, goals, investments, and spatial planning designs to prepare for future needs to move people and goods to destinations. As practiced today, it is a collaborative process that i ...
,
signal timing
Signal timing is the technique which traffic engineers use to distribute right-of-way at a signalized intersection. The process includes selecting appropriate values for timing, which are implemented in specialized traffic signal controllers. Sign ...
),
public transport
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
,
urban planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
over
fire protection
Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of potentially destructive fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, compartmentalisation, suppression and investigation of fire and its related emergencies, as we ...
(
evacuation simulation Evacuation simulation is a method to determine evacuation times for areas, buildings, or vessels. It is based on the simulation of crowd dynamics and pedestrian motion.
The distinction between buildings, ships, and vessels on the one hand and s ...
) to 3d
visualization
Visualization or visualisation may refer to:
*Visualization (graphics), the physical or imagining creation of images, diagrams, or animations to communicate a message
* Data visualization, the graphic representation of data
* Information visualiz ...
(
computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...
,
architectural animation
Architectural animation is a short architectural movie created on a computer. A computer-generated building is created along with landscaping and sometimes moving people and vehicles. Unlike an architectural rendering, which is a single image from ...
) for illustrative purpose and communication to the general public.
PTV Vissim is part of the PTV Vision Traffic Suite which also includes PTV Visum (traffic analysis and forecasting) and PTV Vistro (signal optimisation and traffic impact).
Modelling
Microscopic simulation
The basic traffic model ruling the movement of vehicles was developed by Rainer Wiedemann in 1974 at
Karlsruhe University
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; german: Karlsruher Institut für Technologie) is a public research university in Karlsruhe, Germany. The institute is a national research center of the Helmholtz Association.
KIT was created in 2009 w ...
. It is a
car-following model
Microscopic traffic flow models are a class of scientific models of vehicular traffic dynamics.
In contrast, to macroscopic models, microscopic traffic flow models simulate single vehicle-driver units, so the dynamic variables of the models rep ...
that considers physical and psychological aspects of the drivers.
The model underlying pedestrian dynamics is the
Social Force Model
Crowd simulation is the process of simulating the movement (or ) of a large number of entities or characters. It is commonly used to create virtual scenes for visual media like films and video games, and is also used in crisis training, architec ...
by
Dirk Helbing
Dirk Helbing (born January 19, 1965) is Professor of Computational Social Science at the Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences and affiliate of the Computer Science Department at ETH Zurich.
Biography
Dirk Helbing studied phy ...
et al. from 1995.
"Microscopic
simulation
A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of Conceptual model, models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or proc ...
", sometimes called
microsimulation
Microsimulation (from microanalytic simulation or microscopic simulation) is a category of computerized analytical tools that perform highly detailed analysis of activities such as highway traffic flowing through an intersection, financial transact ...
, means each entity (car, train, person) of reality is simulated individually, i.e. it is represented by a corresponding entity in the simulation, thereby considering all relevant properties. The same holds for the interactions between the entities. The opposite would be a "macroscopic simulation", in which the description of reality is shifted from individuals to "averaged" variables like
flow
Flow may refer to:
Science and technology
* Fluid flow, the motion of a gas or liquid
* Flow (geomorphology), a type of mass wasting or slope movement in geomorphology
* Flow (mathematics), a group action of the real numbers on a set
* Flow (psych ...
and
density
Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...
. The corresponding product from the same manufacturer is called Visum.
Transport modes
In Vissim the following types of traffic can be simulated, and mutually interact:
*
Vehicle
A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wa ...
s (cars, buses, and trucks)
*
Public transport
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
(trams, buses)
* Cycles (
bicycle
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
Bic ...
s,
motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...
s)
*
Pedestrian
A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically.
The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...
s
*
Rickshaws
A rickshaw originally denoted a two- or three-wheeled passenger cart, now known as a pulled rickshaw, which is generally pulled by one person carrying one passenger. The first known use of the term was in 1879. Over time, cycle rickshaws (also ...
Vehicle interactions
In VISSIM, vehicle conflict points can be modelled using Priority Rules, Conflict Areas or Signal Heads.TfL Traffic Modelling Guidelines v3 http://content.tfl.gov.uk/traffic-modelling-guidelines.pdf
Signals can be modelled with fixed-time plans, or various modules such as VAP (Vehicle Actuated Programming) are available to model on-demand signals and other types of control and coordination.
Versions and associated files
Versions up to 5.40 created .INP files which used a proprietary language. Versions 6 and later created .INPX files which use an
XML
Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing arbitrary data. It defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. T ...
-based language. Both produce human-readable code:
.INP example
CONNECTOR 10011 NAME "West Road" LABEL 0.00 0.00
FROM LINK 30 LANES 1 AT 34.905
OVER 574805 165119 0.00000 OVER 574805 165119 0.000 OVER 574805 165120 0.000 OVER 574805 165120 0.000
TO LINK 2 LANES 1 AT 0.358 BEHAVIORTYPE 1 DISPLAYTYPE 1 ALL
DX_EMERG_STOP 5.000 DX_LANE_CHANGE 200.000
GRADIENT 0.00000 COST 0.00000 SURCHARGE 0.00000 SURCHARGE 0.00000
SEGMENT LENGTH 10.000 ANIMATION
.INPX example
References
Further Literature
* R. Wiedemann, Modelling of RTI-Elements on multi-lane roads. In: ''Advanced Telematics in Road Transport'' edited by the Commission of the European Community, DG XIII, Brussels, 1991.
* M. Fellendorf, VISSIM: A microscopic simulation tool to evaluate actuated signal control including bus priority. ''64th ITE Annual Meeting'', 1994 PDF * L. Bloomberg and J. Dale, Comparison of VISSIM and CORSIM Traffic Simulation Models on a Congested Network. ''Transportation Research Record'' 1727:52-60, 2000 PDF * D. Helbing, I. Farkas, and T. Vicsek, Simulating dynamical features of escape panic. ''Nature'', 407:487–490, 2000.
* M. Fellendorf and P. Vortisch, Validation of the microscopic traffic flow model VISSIM in different real-world situations. ''Transportation Research Board'', 2001 PDF * D. Helbing, I.J. Farkas, P. Molnar, and T. Vicsek, Simulation of Pedestrian Crowds in Normal and Evacuation Situations. In Schreckenberg and Sharma editors. ''Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics'', Duisburg, 2002. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
* B.B. Park and J.D. Schneeberger, Microscopic Simulation Model Calibration and Validation: Case Study of VISSIM Simulation Model for a Coordinated Actuated Signal System. ''Transportation Research Record'' 1856:185-192, 2003 PDF * T. Werner and D. Helbing, The Social Force Pedestrian Model Applied to Real Life Scenarios. In E. Galea (editor) ''Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics: 2nd International Conference'', Old Royal Naval College, University of Greenwich, London, 2003. CMS Press.
* G. Gomes, A. May, and R. Horowitz, Congested Freeway Microsimulation Model Using VISSIM. ''Transportation Research Record'' 1876:71-81, 2004 PDF * R. Jagannathan and J.G. Bared, Design and Operational Performance of Crossover Displaced Left-Turn Intersections ''Transportation Research Record'' 1881:1-10, 2004.
* K.Y.K. Leung T.-S. Dao C.M. Clark, and J.P. Huissoon, Development of a microscopic traffic simulator for inter-vehicle communication application research. In ''Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference'' 1286–1291, 2006.
* M.M. Ishaque and R.B. Noland, Trade-offs between vehicular and pedestrian traffic using micro-simulation methods. ''Transport Policy'' 14(2):124-138, 2007.
* W. Burghout, J. Wahlstedt, Hybrid Traffic Simulation with Adaptive Signal Control ''Transportation Research Record'' 1999:191-197, 2007 PDF * A. Johansson, D. Helbing, and P.K. Shukla, Specification of the Social Force Pedestrian Model by Evolutionary Adjustment to Video Tracking Data. ''Advances in Complex Systems'' 10(4):271–288, 2007. {{arxiv, 0810.4587v1