Modelling and Simulation of Transportation Systems: a Scenario Planning Approach

It is increasingly realized that building more roads does not solve the traffic congestion problem but actually makes it worse. Instead of adding capacity to our roads there should be an effort to find ways in order to enhance the level of service of the public transport mode especially with the use of technology, such as applying computer and information technology to transportation systems. Advanced technologies such as Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) provide a big opportunity for alleviating the traffic congestion problem. On the other hand, ITS technologies require though rigorous testing and evaluation, which can only be achieved with computer simulation modeling. This paper presents an overview on traffic simulation as well as the development process of a microscopic simulation model of a highly congested traffic network in Nicosia, Cyprus. The validated simulation model gives transportation planners and traffic managers the capability to test various Bus Rapid Transit scenario solutions involving the use of intelligent transportation systems prior to their implementation.