Practical guidance for using mesoscopic simulation tools

Mesoscopic simulation has many advantages such as requiring less effort for network building and calibration than microscopic simulation and generating more detailed simulation results in terms of traffic conditions than macroscopic simulation. As more and more transportation practitioners become interested in it, this paper aims at providing practical guidance by demonstrating the capabilities of mesoscopic simulation tools. In order to provide practical guidance, two commercially available mesoscopic simulation software, AIMSUN and VISSIM were chosen and a testbed network consisting of a system of freeways in Richmond, Virginia was prepared. The testbed was calibrated and used to evaluate the potential impacts of various levels of High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane usage on system operations. The goal of the HOV lane implementation was to demonstrate practical guidance of utilizing mesoscopic simulation package as a tool for evaluating traffic management strategies. Results of the demonstration study, using both AIMSUN and VISSIM, were deemed to be reasonable. Some lessons learned during the study as well as through communications with the software vendors are also shared in the paper. This paper should provide transportation practitioners with practical guidance when selecting and/or conducting mesoscopic simulation.