Operations & Intelligent Transportation Systems Research > Traffic Analysis and Simulation Pooled Fund Study
Traffic Analysis and Simulation Pooled Fund Study
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Description
The Traffic Analysis and Simulation (TAS) Pooled Fund Study (PFS) will serve as a forum for public agencies to collectively identify and address common issues in conducting, managing, or approving traffic analysis and simulation studies. This study will address key technical and institutional traffic analysis issues through the investigation and development of best practices, lessons learned, and recommended guidelines or methodologies. Also, the TAS PFS will facilitate interaction, information sharing, and knowledge exchange with a broader audience to advance and improve the state of the practice related to the usage, management, and approval of traffic analysis and simulation tools.
Motivation
Transportation professionals use traffic analysis tools to find the best transportation solutions for their regions. However, as transportation solutions become more sophisticated and complex, so do traffic analysis tools. As a result, many public agencies are facing new and difficult issues regarding traffic analysis and simulation tools for transportation decisionmaking. Some of these common issues include: how to choose an appropriate tool, how to manage and review a complex traffic simulation study, and how to model intelligent transportation system (ITS) and advanced traffic management and control strategies. Rather than each public agency addressing these challenges separately, agencies can tackle them in a collective and comprehensive manner through the PFS process.
Quick Facts on Joining
- Any public agency responsible for conducting, managing, or approving traffic analysis studies can join this PFS.
- The PFS has a targeted start date of 2007, but will officially begin once enough agencies join.
- Annual commitment of $50,000 per agency is requested; however, this can vary based on the size and type of agency. Desired minimum annual commitment is $20,000 per agency.
Benefits of Joining
- Increased technical knowledge of staff.
- Form ongoing partnerships with peers and experts in the field.
- Cost savings through pooling resources with other agencies.
- Improved review and management of traffic analysis studies.
- Improved transportation decisionmaking through high-quality traffic analyses.
Topics of Study
This PFS study will develop best practices, lessons learned, methodologies, and other various guidance documents for critical traffic analysis and simulation topics. While the precise study topics will be decided by the PFS participants, possible topics include:
- Modeling innovative/unique transportation projects, such as high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, intelligent transportation system (ITS) strategies, or multimodal corridors.
- Modeling nonrecurring congestion, such as adverse weather, incidents, or work zones.
- Integration and usage of regional planning models in operations-level traffic analysis tools.
- Calibration issues and approaches for traffic analysis.
- Reviewing and managing traffic analysis studies from a public agency’s perspective.
- Proper usage of traffic simulation animation and output to support transportation decisionmaking.
Further Information
Further information on the TAS PFS can be found at: www.pooledfund.org/projectdetails.asp?id=1142&status=1. Information on the process for joining a PFS can be found at: www.pooledfund.org. For additional information, please contact John Halkias, (202) 366-2183, John.Halkias@fhwa.dot.gov, or James Colyar, (202) 493- 3282, James.Colyar@fhwa.dot.gov.
September 2006
