United States Department of Transportation
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Best Practices for Modeling Light Rail at Intersections
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2018-08-01
[PDF-994.73 KB]
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Corporate Contributors:University of Texas Rio Grande Valley ; United States. Department of Transportation. University Transportation Centers (UTC) Program ; United States. Department of Transportation. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
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Edition:Final Report (June 2017 to August 2018)
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Abstract:This research aims to provide guidelines for best practices in modeling urban light rail facilities within transportation simulation software packages, including VISSIM and Aimsun, and improve the understanding of engineers and planners considering light rail facilities. The case study location of four intersections in Denver, Colorado was analyzed thoroughly to monitor and capture the traffic demand and signal timing plans as a preliminary input for the simulation software environments. The traffic signal patterns of the intersections, including vehicular traffic, light rail, and pedestrian phases has been observed as accurately as possible using both on-site observations and review of video recordings. All the field observations have been documented in this report, and have been implemented faithfully in the simulation environment. Current versions of two of the most widely used simulation software packages were used, VISSIM and Aimsun, attempting to accurately reproduce the traffic conditions observed. While documenting the modeling steps of the simulation software packages, the authors take for granted that conventional road network modeling is known to the audience, and have instead focused on the modeling techniques specific to the light rail movement. Several screen shots of the functionalities regarding the modeling tools have been included. It is the authors’ intention that practitioners and researchers with limited or no prior experience will be able to model the light rail movement based on the documentation herein, and that ultimately, the observations and recommendations of signal timing techniques described in this report will enrich the state of practice for modeling light rail with traffic simulation software.
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