AHB45
Committee on Traffic Flow Theory & Characteristics
Transportation Research Board
National Academy of Sciences
 
     
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TRB JOINT SIMULATION SUBCOMMITTEE: AHB45(1)
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Purpose and Organization

As technology advances, traffic simulation is playing an increasing role as a problem solving tool for transportation system analysis. The interest in simulation cuts across the boundaries of several TRB committees. There is a need to coordinate the efforts of these committees to avoid duplication and conflict.

The joint subcommittee on Traffic Simulation has been formed with this objective in mind. The parent committees are the Traffic Flow Theory Committee (AHB45) and the Highway Capacity and Quality of Service Committee (AHB40). Its official TRB designation is AHB45(1). For internal purposes the committee will be known as “SimSub.”

The following overall goals have been established for SimSub as a result of discussions held in preliminary meetings:

  1. Provide a forum for presentation, discussion and dissemination of information on traffic simulation models.
  2. Recommend parent committee actions on:
    • capabilities of existing models
    • “best practices” and guidelines of model application
    • development of improved models
    • calibration and validation issues
  3. Maintain liaison with other TRB committees and FHWA, especially with the NGSIM project.
  4. Promote Basic Research on Simulation Models
  5. Identify Data Needs (Demand, etc.)

Subcommittee Organization and Membership

It is intended that SimSub will be an active working group with minimal formalities for membership and the conduct of business. All members of at least one TRB committee or subcommittee with an interest in simulation will be eligible for membership in SimSub. Appointments will be for a period of one year and will be subject to renewal at the discretion of the chairperson. The enrollment/renewal process involves sending an email to the current SimSub Chair indicating the other TRB committees and subcommittees of which you are currently a member and the task groups in which you are interested.

The SimSub steering group will consist of the following individuals.

  • The Subcommittee Chair,
  • The Chairs of the stakeholder committees,
  • The Subcommittee Secretary,
  • The Chairs of all SimSub task groups and
  • The member responsible for maintaining the SimSub web site.

Task Groups

The following task groups will be established to carry out the work of the subcommittee. Other task groups will be formed later in response to the desires of the subcommittee members.

Annual Workshop

This task group will be responsible for the organization and presentation of an annual workshop on traffic simulation, historically held on the Sunday afternoon of the TRB annual meeting. The workshop topic will be selected annually in July or August by the steering group. At that point, a task group will be appointed to organize the workshop.

Newsletter

The subcommittee will post a semi-annual newsletter to its web site to inform members and others of items of interest to the simulation community: A separate task group will be appointed for each edition of the newsletter. The newsletter contents will include:

  • News and success stories
  • Articles
  • NGSIM update
  • Software product updates (unless TRB objects)
  • Research Results
  • Task group reports

The chair of this task group will be responsible for soliciting material, monitoring deadlines, producing the newsletter and posing it to the Subcommittee web site.

Liaison and Outreach

This task group will monitor activities of other groups in the simulation community and will report to the subcommittee on the results of their efforts. The members will include participants in other groups who are able to maintain two-way communication between SimSub and their respective organizations and groups. A liaison report will be produced for each newsletter issue.

As a part of the liaison and outreach activity, a web site will be maintained for all subcommittee announcements and products. To ensure conformance with TRB policies and guidelines, the site will be operated as a part of the Traffic Flow Theory Committee site at http://web.pdx.edu/~bertini/tft_sub.htm

Research Needs and Resources

This task group will compile research problem statements from Subcommittee members and from other sources, including TRB committees, NCHRP, etc. It will also compile a list of potential resources for data that could be useful in the conduct of research on simulation models. Typically, such data would come from other research projects and ITS central data warehouses.

Subcommittee Business

The subcommittee will meet at the annual TRB meeting in January. Historically, this meeting has taken place on Monday evening.

When appropriate, a mid-year meeting will be held in conjunction with another event that attracts a sufficient number of members. For 2005, the mid year meeting will be held in Sedona Arizona in conjunction with the WORKSHOP ON TRAFFIC MODELING: TRAFFIC BEHAVIOR AND SIMULATION at the Hotel Radisson Poco Diablo Resort (Sedona) Arizona , September 18 – September 21, 2005

An agenda will be posted to the Subcommittee Website in advance of all meetings.

The primary purpose of SimSub meetings will be to receive information, discuss issues and plan activities. Balloting will not normally be required, except for specific recommendations that SimSub deems appropriate to pass on to stakeholder committees. When balloting is required, all members present will be eligible to vote. The TRB rules regarding quorums and procedures will apply.

Link to original subcommittee goals and objectives.

 

 

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Last updated: Friday, January 11, 2008 8:58 AM
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