Immersion reality: combining microsimulation modelling and probe vehicles in traffic studies

A Paramics micro-simulation model of an Adelaide radial road corridor has been constructed. The corridor includes a novel one-way reversible direction expressway equipped with an advanced traffic management system (ATMS). The modelled area included two alternative radial routes: an arterial road and the expressway. The model was used to analyse the performance of the corridor when an incident occurred on the expressway, in terms of traffic conditions and greenhouse gas emissions. Real world data was collected on both routes using an instrumented vehicle which records vehicle engine, positional and emissions data in real time. Paramics allows a representation of the probe vehicle to be introduced into the simulations. The paper describes the modelled results when this vehicle was immersed in the simulation modelling on incidents and the responses of the corridor's ATMS, with particular regard to the estimation of the emission impacts of ATIS and INMS.