Intelligent traffic simulation systems
Introduction
VISSIM is a software tool for microscopic and multimodal traffic simulation, developed by the company PTV -- Planung Transport Verkehr AG") in Karlsruhe, Germany. The acronym derives from the German "Verkehr In Städten - SIMulation" (in Spanish "Traffic simulation in cities"). The theoretical foundation of VISSIM is located at the University of Karlsruhe in the 80s and its first appearance as a commercial tool in Microsoft's Windows environment was in the year 1992, with version 2.03. It currently leads the world market.
Microscopic simulation
In a “microscopic simulation” model or microsimulation model, the individuals that make up the traffic flows (vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, etc.) are the minimum element. Their characteristics (physical and psychological) and their mutual interaction and with road elements are modeled with rules, algorithms and behavioral models.
A traffic microsimulation model is dynamic (evolving over time), discrete (the state of the variables changes instantaneously at specific times, usually fixed) and stochastic (with random results).
Multimodal simulation
"Multimodal simulation" is characterized by modeling more than one type of traffic and the interactions between them.
The following types of traffic can be simulated in VISSIM:
Application
The scope of application of VISSIM ranges from traffic engineering (synchronization and planning of traffic light plans, experimentation with intelligent transport systems and traffic control and management systems) through transport planning, mobility studies to 3D visualizations for illustrative documentation and presentations.
Scientific basis
The basic motion model of VISSIM was developed by Rainer Wiedemann in 1974 at the University of Karlsruhe (Universität Karlsruhe (TH)&action=edit&redlink=1 "Universität Karlsruhe (TH) (not yet written)")). This is a tracking model between vehicles that considers the physical and psychological aspects of the drivers.
Award
PTV AG grants an award biannually, as scientific recognition for work related to VISSIM or other of its products.[1] Participation is open to any researcher.