DTA2012 Symposium: Combining Disaggregate Route Choice Estimation with Aggregate Calibration of a Dynamic Traffic Assignment Model

Dynamic Traffic Assignment (DTA) models are important decision support tools for transportation planning and real-time traffic management. One of the biggest obstacles of applying DTA in large-scale networks is the calibration of model parameters, which is essential for the realistic replication of the traffic condition. This paper proposes a methodology for the simultaneous demand-supply DTA calibration based on both aggregate measurements and disaggregate route choice observations to improve the calibration accuracy. The calibration problem is formulated as a bi-level constrained optimization problem and an iterative solution algorithm is proposed. A case study in a highly congested urban area of Beijing using DynaMIT-P is conducted and the combined calibration method improves the fits to surveillance data compared to the calibration based on aggregate measurements only. Edmund K. Turner Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Room 1-181, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139. Tel: +1 617-253-5324. Email: [email protected] Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts, 214C Marston Hall, 130 Natural Resources Rd, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. Tel: +1 413-545-2688. Email: [email protected] Research Assistant, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139. Tel: +1 617-842-5797. Email: [email protected] Google Inc., 76 9th Avenue, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10011. Email: [email protected]