Aimsun is building a transport model covering the 100-square-mile area within the M60 ring road for Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), one of the UK’s most prominent transport authorities.
Work on the large-scale, multi-tier model was entrusted to the Aimsun team, who have delivered the initial build inside a very tight timeframe. Final versions of the model will be delivered to TfGM later this year.
The model is a strategic planning and operational management tool that TfGM can use to assess a range of schemes being developed in support of delivering the Bee Network – Greater Manchester’s vision for a more integrated, accessible and affordable public transport and active travel system.
The key features of the new Aimsun model, described in greater detail below, are that it is multi-scale, supports transport appraisal, will be linked to continuous data sources, and will be built to a standard that can support real-time traffic management in the future.
The Aimsun model replaces the previous microscopic models of Manchester that were built in separate software packages. Instead, it offers a new, fully integrated environment that includes macroscopic, mesoscopic, and microscopic modelling levels in a single platform.
The strategic macroscopic level will be used for demand estimation, and nested inside, will be two dynamic layers: mesoscopic and microscopic. The mesoscopic scale uses simplified vehicle dynamics for greater efficiency and is perfect for fast, full model assignments; the detailed microscopic model covers only Manchester city centre, where greater granularity is needed to capture interactions between individual vehicles.
As a new feature for TfGM, the Aimsun model will enable a link to continuous data sources, including SCOOT traffic flows (from the UTC system), Bus AVL data and Automatic Traffic Counters.
Aimsun data processing will add immense value because TfGM will gain historical data insights, not only from normal conditions but also from less typical time periods such as Christmas or Saturdays.
“Crucially, Aimsun’s data services will enable semi-automatic model updates, which will greatly increase our efficiency while maintaining accuracy going forward,” said Sam Corns. “Ultimately, this will support us in delivering for the travelling public in Greater Manchester.”
