Microsimulation Outputs

Note about licences: These exercises require a licence for Aimsun Next Professional for Microscopic Simulation, Advanced or Expert Edition.

Exercise 1. Vehicle Data

Exercise 2. Time Series in objects
Exercise 3. Time Series Viewer
Exercise 4. Styles and Modes (I)Default View Modes and Legends
Exercise 5. Styles and Modes (II) Vehicles Speed
Exercise 6. Styles and Modes (III) Diagrams
Exercise 7. Dynamic labels
Exercise 8. Analyser Dynamic Label
Exercise 9. Centroid statistics
Exercise 10. Lane statistics
Exercise 11. Control Statistics
Exercise 12. Grouping Subpaths
Exercise 13. Print Layout
Exercise 14. Data comparison

Introduction
In these exercises, we will look at the different ways of obtaining immediate visual results in Aimsun Next. We will see how to view data from a single vehicle while doing a microscopic simulation. We will also use the Time Series Viewer to
see Time Series data during a simulation. Finally, we will define View Styles and View Modes to present results on the network using colours, shapes and labels.

The experiments in the exercise use models from the microscopic simulator. If you have a licence for the Professional for Mesoscopic edition it will generate the experiments in the same way but using models from the mesoscopic simulator.

The files related to this exercise are located in Program Files/Aimsun/Aimsun Next X.X/docs/tutorials/2_Outputs.

Exercise 1. Vehicle Data

Note about licences for this exercise: Available for all editions except the Professional for Travel Demand edition and the Professional for Mesoscopic edition.

For this exercise, open the Initial_Outputs.ang.

While a simulation is running, information is available about the vehicles within it. Start a simulation and use the sliders to set the smoothness and speed of the simulation using the sliders in the control box. Stop it after at least 10 minutes
simulated time.

Clicking on the on the letter ¨i¨ in the control box shows the real time information about the simulation.

This shows the number of vehicles in virtual queues (Waiting to enter), the number that are in the simulation and the number that have passed through the simulation, and the number that have lost their routes
1
Double-clicking on a vehicle (Simulation Vehicle or Simulation PT Vehicle) shows its static attributes in the tabbed folder Static Attributes (Id, Origin, Destination, Parameters,...). In the tabbed folder Dynamic Attributes, speed and
position attributes are shown, and we can follow a vehicle when we start the simulation again by selecting checkbox Follow.

The Path tab shows the path being followed by the vehicle, from its origin to its destination.

In the Dynamic Attributes tab, we can opt to collect vehicle Time Series by selecting Collect Time Series Data and a new tab Time Series will appear. Any parameter for the vehicle may be shown as it changes over time until the vehicle
leaves the model. For example, select the variable TS Speed and resume the simulation.

2
Exercise 2. Time Series in objects
During the simulation (in micro), and also after it has finished, we can see the data collected for each of the model objects (sections, detectors …).

First we need to define the detection interval. In this exercise we will define a 10 minute interval. This can be done by double-clicking on the scenario (Dynamic Scenario Base), and selecting the Outputs to Generate tab. Select the outputs
to be generated.

3
Run the simulation all the way to the end, then double-click on a Detector and select the Time Series tabbed folder. Click on Variable and the Count – Last Generated parameter to see the detector counts over consecutive 10-minute
intervals. Click on Graph to see them in graph form.

4
It is possible to show more than one Time Series simultaneously. In the next example, we are going to set the variables so that both car and truck counts are shown. Click on the + button and choose car for the first Time Series and truck
for the second one, as shown below:

5
Visualising Time Series can be done for any network object. For example, in the next image, the mean number of stops vehicles do in the selected section during each of the intervals is shown. By selecting the Mean option, a line
representing the mean during the whole simulation period is shown.

6
Furthermore, different Time Series that are expressed in common units can also be selected in the same editor. The next image is a graph showing Density and Flow:

7
Exercise 3. Time Series Viewer
Halt the simulation then before re-starting it, open the Time Series Viewer in menu Data Analysis / Time Series Viewer

Now, we will compare the delay time in different sections leading into a junction. After selecting the sections shown below, choose the statistic Delay Time (Last Generated) and click Add Series to add it to the graph.

8
If the scale is not appropriate use ‘Auto Scale’.

9
We can do this Time Series analysis for any object that generates statistics.

We could also opt to see the result expressed as a bar chart by clicking .

This allows us to see the values of the three sections in a fixed period of time, in this case at 9:00:00 although we can change the system clock to see different intervals.

We can also opt to see the aggregate value, the minimum, the maximum, etc.

Using the name field or the external ID makes it much easier to identify the roads in the graph legend.

10
Exercise 4. Styles and Modes (I) – default View Modes and Legends
Aimsun Next has some view modes prepared in its templates. Some are useful during the simulation, some in the calibration process, while others are useful for observing results during and after the simulation. In this exercise we will look at
some of them and alter the view with the Legend window (menu Window / Windows / Legend (e)).

Then select the view mode from the drop down menu.

PARAMETERS: Capacity Sections

The Legend window shows the capacity by colour.

11
CALIBRATION: Colour by Turn

Here, vehicles are coloured by their intended turn.

SIMULATED FLOW:

As this last mode varies over time we can use the view clock to see different results over time and see different aggregated minimum or maximum values. Note also how the mode changes in detail as we zoom in.

12
Legend window
The Legend Window offers a quick way to modify the view, eliminating the need to access all of the view styles one by one. It is toggled on and off with the Window / Windows / Legend (e) menu option or by pressing e in the 2D
window.

We can modify the width and size of the labels and diagrams of the elements in a particular view style.

13
We can hide or reveal specific objects such as nodes, section objects, connections and centroids.

14
Double-clicking on the View Style Legend opens the dialog to make View Mode modifications directly - as described in the next two exercises.

Exercise 5. Styles and Modes (II) – Vehicle Speed

Note about licences for this exercise: Available for all editions except the Professional for Travel Demand edition and the Professional for Mesoscopic edition.

In this exercise, we will create a View Mode to display vehicles coloured by their current speed.

Create a new view mode in the Project Window and name it ‘Vehicles speed’.

15
Double-click on the mode and create the first style by clicking ‘Add New Style’. Fill in the dialog as below:

Selecting it should show something similar to this:

16
But if we go up in scale in the view (>1:4000), we will no longer be able to see the individual vehicles.

The solution is to create another style in this same view mode. The new style will draw the vehicles as circles from scale 1:4000 and upwards.

Add a new style in the mode with ‘Add New style’.

It is important to add in the Conditions tab that in this style we only want it to be active in scales between 4000 and 9999999. This new style will be activated automatically as we scroll up the scale range.

17
Exercise 6. Styles and Modes (III) – Diagrams
The diagram styles allow us to use Circles, Pie, Histogram etc., and to add a label with the values.

Centroids

In this exercise, we are going to use this type of diagram to show the number of Origin/Destination trips for each of the centroids.

Create a new View Mode containing a new View Style. In the View Style, select Centroid as the Object Type, Diagram and Histogram as Style, and the attribute Demand Totals from the Available Columns:

18
19
We can experiment with changing the size of the histogram, the colour and labels and the centroid attribute value shown.

PT Vehicles

If we wanted to emphasise the movement of the public transport vehicles in the simulation, we could visualise them as circles with the diameter related to the size of the vehicle. The View Mode is: PT Vehicles: and it contains one View
Style which turns the vehicle into a circle where the diameter varies by length.

20
This view style can be modified to show the PT Line for each bus. Use a Spot style and the Public Transport Line attribute. Use Calculate Ranges to set up the discrete values for each line an edit each line value to allocate it a colour, shape
and size.

Note about licences for this output: Available for all editions except the Professional for Travel Demand edition and the Professional for Mesoscopic edition.

Exercise 7. Dynamic labels

21
Objects drawn in 2D views can have dynamic labels associated, to show attributes that change their value during simulation, such as the mean speed in a section or detector occupancy, for example. To show the number of vehicles counted
by a detector during the simulation, select the detector and right-click over it to open its context menu. Then select Dynamic Labels / New / Attribute Dynamic Label.

A new dialog will appear to select the dynamic attribute Count - Last Generated. Select also to show the Units and in RED colour, as the following image shows.

A new text will appear in the 2D view. To tidy up the display, it can be moved out of the body of the section to the side. During the simulation it will be automatically updated with the data gathered during each interval.

Exercise 8. Analyser Dynamic Label

At the nodes, we can undertake a global analysis of all the component turns. To do this we activate the Analyser dynamic label by right-clicking on it in the node’s context menu an selecting the measure it should show, here we are using
the count, from the replication name "base" labelling the turns for all vehicle types.

22
During the simulation, the results look like this.

23
Experiment with other values and selection options.

Exercise 9. Centroid statistics

The centroid statistics in Aimsun Next can be accessed by double-clicking on the centroid of interest. Below are two examples of the type of centroid statistics that are available:

1. Information about a single centroid: This information might include the average speed of the vehicles entering and exiting a centroid. For example here we have set up a time series with two variables (with the same units) - the
entry and exit speeds for the Sants centroid.

24
1. Information about an OD pair: For example, the average speed of the vehicles that have travelled from the Sants centroid to the B23 centroid.

25
26
Note that in this exercise, the scenario was set up to collect OD data for just two trips. If you want to collect for other centroids and OD pairs, you should change the settings in the Scenario editor, Outputs to Generate tab, Statistics subtab.

Exercise 10. Lane statistics

To view the statistics of a section by lane, select the Time Series of a section. Select the section and add the same variable 3 times ( for a 3 lane section) opting for a different lane each time. The results for section 928 are shown here.

27
Exercise 11. Control Statistics
In this exercise, we will plot traffic control information, such as the percentage of red/green time for signals. The signal information is contained in the turn as the red/green proportion is specific to each turn (The phase information
summarises the node)

Select a signalised node and select a turn within it. Use the advanced turn editor (Click on Edit Turn) to show the details for each turn and select the time series. In the example below, the red and green percentages are selected. As these
must add to 100%, the stacked area plot is appropriate to show how the relative proportion changes over time.

28
A similar display can be created with a view mode.

1. Create a new View Mode and name it "Signal Phases"

2. Create a new View Style and name it "Traffic Signals"

Set it to operate on objects of type "Turn"

Set it to be a * Diagram* of type Pie
Select the red and green percentages and colour them appropriately

29
30
Selecting this view mode shows the signal phases per turn

31
Exercise 12. Grouping and Subpaths
We can group objects of the same type and gather statistics for the group. In this exercise we will analyse trips between the central zone and the external zones by creating two groupings of centroids, interior and exterior and looking the
trips between the groups rather than the individual centroids.

The first step is to create a category: right-click on Data Analysis and create a Grouping Category.

Name it ‘Grouping Centroids’ and select the object type to be ‘Centroid’:

32
Then, create a grouping to hold all of the exterior centroids; right-click on New Grouping in the Grouping Category and create a new Grouping:

Name it ‘External’ and select all of the external centroids by clicking on them:

Do the same to create a grouping for the two internal centroids:

33
Now select the option to gather grouping statistics for the scenario. This implies we must run the simulation again.

We can now see the average speed of all of the vehicles with an external centroid as either their origin or their destination in the time series plot for the external group.

34
Similarly we can see the number of vehicles that leave or arrive at internal centroids:

35
Once we have created these groups we can use them to aggregate the traffic demand matrices. Select the "car" matrix in the Traffic demand and select the grouping option to view the matrix by group.

Exercise 13. Print Layout

A print layout allows us to group various elements from the previous exercises in a single graphical output and create a template for outputs. The elements used in this exercise will be:

Network views (with View Modes)

Statistical graphs (Time Series)

To create a new print layout click on: Project / New / Data Analysis / Print Layout

Double-click on the new print layout to see the initial template.

We will add two elements to this layout: a view of the network and a graph. As in this exercise, we are going to do this from an empty blank sheet, first delete the map that appears in the default print layout.

36
To add a map, click on the map icon and centre the map as required using the usual pan and zoom options. The view may be taken from the "active view" i.e. the one in the 2D window, or it may be set up independently. In this case,
opt to set it up separately from the main view and select the view mode Simulated Delay Time .

Add a legend using the legend icon The legend autocompletes and we only have to centre it , enabling editing to move it.

Now we add a graph to the layout using the Time Series icon . In this example we will select the 7 centroids in the 2D view and choose the Delay Time by Destination, add the series and change to diagram mode, to see which has the worst
access.

37
The final image should look like this:

38
Now we can print it, or export it to a pdf. The print layout is now stored in the model and could be reused for example changing the replication, average, or real data set used to source the data.

Exercise 14. Data comparison

Data comparison allows us to view and compare the results of two simulations, showing the relative and absolute differences.

To use this tool, simulate the complementary scenario in the network (Scenario Priority). This scenario is the same as the base except for a new traffic control plan where the tram has absolute priority.

39
Simulate the new scenario all the way to the end.

Open the Data Comparison dialog. In the Data Analysis menu select Data Comparison:

Compare the Delay Time statistic, filling in the dialog as shown below:

Click Compare to see the following data:

Results Table
The Delay Time values of the sections are in table form and show the absolute and relative differences:

40
The colours in the table correspond to those used in the view style also provided.

View style

This shows a section-by-section comparison. Sections marked green have lower delay time in the experiment with tram priority and vice versa with red. Obviously the tram sections are green because they have absolute priority. And node
accesses marked in the image now have less green time and therefore a longer delay time and are therefore marked in red.

© Aimsun SL
Aimsun ®

41
All rights reserved. Aimsun products contain certain trade secrets and confidential and proprietary information. Use of this copyright notice is precautionary and does not imply publication or disclosure.

Aimsun Next is a trademark of Aimsun S.L. Other brand or product names brand or product names included in this document are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

42