Analysis and Comparison of Microscopic Traffic Flow Models with Real Traffic Microscopic Data

The evermore widespread use of microscopic traffic simulation in the analysis of road systems has refocused attention on submodels, including car-following models. The difficulties of microscopic-level simulation models in the accurate reproduction of real traffic phenomena stem not only from the complexity of calibration and validation operations but also from the structural inadequacies of the submodels themselves. Both of these drawbacks originate from the scant information available on real phenomena because of the difficulty with the gathering of accurate field data. In this study, the use of kinematic differential Global Positioning System instruments allowed the trajectories of four vehicles in a platoon to be accurately monitored under real traffic conditions on both urban and extraurban roads. Some of these data were used to analyze the behaviors of four microscopic traffic flow models that differed greatly in both approach and complexity. The effect of the choice of performance measures on the m...