Pedestrian and Vehicle Flow Calibration in Multimodal Traffic Microsimulation

Abstract

This paper provides a method for including pedestrians in a vehicle microsimulation model, specifically the VISSIM model. VISSIM provides a default mechanism for simulating pedestrian movements; however, this does not adequately replicate pedestrian behavior. We instead define pedestrians as vehicles and calibrate various parameters within VISSIM so that pedestrian behavior is calibrated with pedestrian speed-flow models. We validate and refine these parameters using a real traffic network with high levels of pedestrian traffic crossing at signalized junctions. This work demonstrates the feasibility of modeling vehicle-pedestrian interactions in a realistic manner and provides analysts with a tool for evaluating policies that affect both vehicle and pedestrian flows.