Dynamic Origin–Destination Estimation Using Dynamic Traffic Simulation Model in an Urban Arterial Corridor

As dynamic traffic simulation (DTS) becomes ever more popular, how to provide the input data, that is, a dynamic origin–destination (O-D) table, for simulation becomes an important question. During recent years, many researchers have proposed estimation methods for a dynamic O-D table from an academic point of view, but transportation engineers appear to use the dynamic approach in practical applications rarely. In recent simulation projects, ad hoc schemes have been used by practitioners for developing dynamic O-D tables for subareas from larger, static planning O-D tables without much theoretical soundness. The authors developed a dynamic O-D estimation model based on a path-flow approach and iterative simulations, along with a scheme to find a justifiable seed O-D table, and applied it to a real-world context. A major arterial corridor in Suwon, South Korea, was selected, and the link turning counts were collected at intersections. A microscopic DTS model, PARAMICS, was used with the dynamic O-D table to simulate link turning counts. The test results show that the developed O-D estimation technique is efficient, with simulated link traffic counts and section travel times very close to the reality.