Calibration of microscopic traffic simulation models with aggregate data

A framework for the calibration of microscopic traffic simulation models using aggregate data is presented. The framework takes into account the interactions between the various inputs and parameters of the simulator by estimating origin-destination (O-D) flows jointly with the behavioral parameters. An optimization-based approach is used for the joint calibration. Since the calibration of the parameters depends on the estimated O-D flows and vice versa, the proposed framework is iterative. O-D estimation is based on the well-known generalized least squares estimator. A systematic search approach based on the complex algorithm is adopted for calibration of the behavioral parameters. This algorithm is particularly useful for the problem at hand since it does not require calculations of derivatives of the objective function. The applicability of the approach is demonstrated through its application to case studies using MITSIMLab, a microscopic traffic simulation model.