Modeling User Equilibrium in Microscopic Transportation Simulation

Abstract

User equilibrium refers to the network-wide state where individual travelers cannot gain improvement by unilaterally changing their behaviors. The Wardropian Equilibrium has been the focus of a transportation equilibrium study. This paper modifies the dynamic traffic assignment method through utilizing the TRANSIMS system to reach the dynamic user equilibrium state in a microscopic model. The focus of research is developing three heuristics in a Routing-Microsimulation-Equilibrating order for reaching system-wide equilibrium while simultaneously minimizing the computing burden and execution. The heuristics are implemented to a TRANSIMS model to simulate a subarea of Houston, TX.