Traffic forecast using simulations of large scale networks

In this contribution an approach to traffic forecast using a microsimulator is presented. In order to provide network-wide information about the current traffic state a cellular automaton traffic flow model is combined with measured data. The framework is applied to the freeway network of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), where data from about 3,500 inductive loops are available and provided online minute by minute. Technical aspects of the simulation like the network structure are illustrated. Furthermore, heuristics are developed based on the statistical analysis of historical data.