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Overview

Development of a Transportation System Simulation Manual (TSSM)

  • DTFH61-16-D00030-T-16012

  • $490,000

  • POP: 28 mths

  • Sep. 2016 - Jan. 2019

  • Role: GTM

  • Dates Involved: Sep. 2016 - Nov. 2017

  • Duties: Project Conception; Project Procurement; Scope of Work; Project Management; Deliverable Review and Acceptance

MY INVOLVEMENT

Background

Traffic analysis and simulation tools have emerged as one of the most efficient methods to optimize, evaluate and simulate the operations of transportation facilities and systems.  Optimization tools produce the best designs for traffic systems from simple intersections to sophisticated urban networks.  

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The Traffic Analysis Tools Program was formulated by FHWA in an attempt to strike a balance between efforts to develop new, improved tools in support of traffic operations analysis – and efforts to facilitate the deployment and use of existing tools.  The FHWA development paradigm casts FHWA in the role of Market Facilitator that manages resources and influences and stimulates the commercial traffic analysis market – making resources freely available and fostering an environment of public-private coordination. 

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The development and advancement of the TSSM will help advance analysis for professionals lacking a centralized, unbiased, authoritative source of theory, best practices, and lessons learned.

Brief history of past and current work leading to the development of the first edition of the Transportation System Simulation Manual (TSSM)

Objectives

The objective of this project is to develop and provide the first edition of the TSSM for the evaluation of transportation systems that delivers to the users the concepts, guidelines, and procedures of simulation modeling.

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The ultimate goal of the manual is to address at a minimum the following: differing scales of modeling, integration of models, model inputs and data formats, data summary and analysis, data storage and model reuse, calibration/validation of simulation, alternative analysis, post processing of model data and interpretation. The framework should be flexible enough to accommodate future advances in modeling methods, input sources, emerging technologies, and data collection/processing methods. The wide availability of the manual will ensure consistency, transparency and defensibility in the development, selection, application, calibration and validation of simulation models and tools.   

Outline of chapters in the Transportation System Simulation Manual (TSSM)

Tasks

  1. Project Management

  2. Stakeholder Webinars

  3. Synthesis of Existing Relevant Documents​

  4. Revised TSSM Annotated Outline​​

  5. TSSM Chapter Development: Critical Need Chapters, Volumes I-II​

  6. TSSM Chapter Development: Intermediate Need Chapters, Volumes III-IV​

  7. Volume V Development

  8. Research Problem Statements

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