Services

Traffic Modelling and Simulation

MRC is a leader in undertaking operational reviews that specifically address traffic flow characteristics along a range of transportation facilities, including controlled access freeways, limited access highways, arterial roads, transit facilities and plazas. These assessments are often undertaken to determine future needs as components of preliminary or detailed design assignments. However, operational reviews are also carried out to assess the impact of lane restrictions and traffic control requirements as part of construction work zone analyses. MRC has built a reputation in the area of traffic simulation and is applying this emerging technology as a fundamental element of our operational assessments.

Micro-simulation models have proven to be very useful in MRC assignments involving the evaluation of:

  • the location and design of expressway ramps
  • the benefits to be gained by making operational or design improvements such as an arterial or expressway widening or HOV lanes
  • transit proposals (e.g. arterial median transitways) and their impact on traffic operations
  • alternative interchange configurations
  • the impact of expressway and arterial lane closures during construction

Traffic operations studies and the use of micro-simulation address the full range of operational issues related to vehicular queuing, weaving, merging, delay, intersection and ramp traffic control and intersection and interchange spacing. Our knowledge and familiarity with micro-simulation is applied using the VISSIM (Germany), Paramics (Scotland) and SimTraffic (United States) software frameworks. A depth of technical expertise and senior project management ensures that sound recommendations arise from detailed operational reviews.

MRC has a highly skilled traffic modelling and traffic simulation group that are familiar with the state of the art traffic simulation software.  Traffic modelling and microsimulation is an integral part of most of the transportation planning studies that is undertaken by our firm for our public sector clients including the Ministry of Transportation, Regional, and municipal governments.

Some of the traffic modelling and simulation software used by MRC includes:

  • Canadian Capacity Guide for Signalized Intersections
  • Highway Capacity Manual (HCS), 2000
  • Synchro 7 and SimTraffic
  • VISSIM 4.3, 5.1
  • VISUM 9.0
  • VISEM 9.0
  • Paramics
  • AIMSUN 6.04
  • Integration
  • EMME/2 and EMME/3
  • Road User Cost Software (MicroBENCOST, USER, and QUEWZ)