Traffic management and control utilizing a microscopic model of traffic dynamics

As urban areas become denser, the demand on the existing transportation network increases at a commensurate rate. A significant amount of the capacity required to satisfy this demand must be provided through management and control systems that improve network efficiency. This thesis describes elements of a centralized traffic management system that receive data from existing traffic surveillance sensors, simulate the traffic flow using a microscopic traffic simulator and then use the simulator in a number of applications to accomplish this.;The microscopic simulator utilizes a new type of driver model with an original implementation of car-following that is based on automatic cruise control research. In addition to the unique car-following model, the driver model also has the ability to dynamically adjust its parameters based on the local state of the roadway. The driver model provides a simple and fast method of calculating vehicle acceleration in contrast to the complex, and computationally intensive models that are in use today. The operation of the simulator is validated using speed data collected using the existing freeway surveillance system.;Using this new microscopic simulator model, two different traffic management applications are developed: ramp metering control and inter-vehicle communication modeling. The ramp metering control utilizes the state output of the simulator to calculate the metering rates. This is a new approach to ramp metering as the ramp metering controller uses data from the simulator that cannot be collected using traditional freeway surveillance systems. Using the simulator, the metering rates are then evaluated to verify the effect they have on the traffic flow.;In the second application, the driver model is adjusted to model the implementation of an inter-vehicle communication system. In order to study the effects of the proposed system, an 'unsafe' driver is added to the roadway and the output of the simulator in both situations (with or without the communication system) is analyzed.