The Integrated Transport Centre (ITC) Abu Dhabi has chosen Aimsun and Siemens to develop its ground-breaking Hybrid Simulation Model.
Adding to its traditional 4-step modelling, the new framework also covers meso and micro models and near real-time simulation. The ITC is linking big datasets, including day-to-day anonymised mobile phone tracking, water/electricity consumption by household, live bus and taxi fleets, building and plot level municipal data, as well as a comprehensive population & employment dataset.
Aimsun calls this “a hugely ambitious project”, noting that nothing of this scale has yet been undertaken by other transport authorities. It says the STEAM+ Framework will place Abu Dhabi’s Transport Modelling program among the best in the world and pioneers of the next big thing in modelling.
Aimsun and the Siemens Mobility team in Abu Dhabi say they are ecstatic to win this major contract from the Abu Dhabi ITC to support its STEAM+ framework. The project comprises the development of a Hybrid Transport Simulation Model for the entire Abu Dhabi Emirate. The scope and scale of the Hybrid Transport Simulation Model is truly without precedent, covering 1,300km of motorway, 3,900km of major and secondary road and over 50,000km of directional roads, carrying millions of daily trips over private and public transport.
A special feature is that the Abu Dhabi Hybrid model is multi-tiered, allowing assessment of schemes ranging from specific intersections, to large infrastructure studies, transit corridors, policy tests, be it for a CBD block or across the whole Emirate. It complements perfectly the current regional strategic model (called STEAM) and the Modelling Framework (STEAM+) developed by ITC for more detailed, dynamic assessment of flow metering at junctions, traffic queuing, ITS and emerging technologies, bus priority schemes and LRT delays at junctions to mention but a few.
Work has already commenced at a rapid pace with major milestones set for as early as this month.
“The ITC is eagerly looking forward to the development and launch of the Hybrid Model in 2021,” commented Abdullah Mohammed Maatouq Al Marzouqi, Director General, Abu Dhabi. “The Hybrid Model will be an integral part of our analytics framework and a vital decision support tool for all transport planning endeavours in the Emirate”.
“Siemens Mobility has been a leader for seamless, sustainable, reliable and secure transport solutions for more than 160 years,” added Pierre Schwing, Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Mobility LLC (UAE). “We are very thankful to ITC for their trust to execute this project in Abu Dhabi. Our project team is already actively engaged with ITC and is executing this state-of-the-art project which will propel mobility in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to the next level.”
“We are proud to have come out the winners of a highly sophisticated selection process,” commented Alex Gerodimos, Aimsun CEO. “We aim to delight the Abu Dhabi ITC team with the quality of our deliverables drawing on our team’s wealth of experience in developing large-scale models in North America, Australia and New Zealand, the UK and the rest of Europe.”
(Picture – Aimsun)
