Conversion of Main Roads Western Australia Transport Models from TRIPS to Cube Voyager

Shaun Tabone

November 28, 2011

Project Summary

- The need to convert:

Issues with TRIPS
TRIPS no longer developed or supported by Citilabs TRIPS has a lower level of precision MRWA used several custom programs written in Fortran. Issues with transparency and long-term maintenance

Cube benefits
Constantly being developed and improved by Citilabs Voyager scripting allows for greater flexibility and customisation Better integration with GIS and geodatabases Cube Scenario manager allows for multiple scenario tests to be set up quickly

Converting MRWA TRIPS models to Cube Voyager

6 December 2011

Page 2

Project Summary

- Main Roads Western Australia models

Regional Operations Model (ROM) Peak Period Model (PPM) Mandurah Dunsborough Model (MDM) State Wide Model (SWM)

- Custom Software (coded in Fortran)

MRDLOAD daily assignment model BCRATIO calculation of BCRs for input networks MODCAR car availability model

Converting MRWA TRIPS models to Cube Voyager

6 December 2011

Page 3

Regional Operations Model

- Four-step model
Covers the Perth Metro area 5 model years (2006, 11, 16, 21, 31) 18 trip purposes, 1160 zones

- Uses the custom programs MRDLOAD, BCRATIO and MODCAR - A live model, used on a regular basis on request from clients

Converting MRWA TRIPS models to Cube Voyager

6 December 2011

Page 4

Peak Period Model

- One hour AM and PM peak period assignment model

5 model years (2006, 11, 16, 21, 31) 18 trip purposes, 1160 zones

- Demand and network from the ROM - Junction coding for:

All signalised junctions All roundabouts Priority junctions with turn bans

Converting MRWA TRIPS models to Cube Voyager

6 December 2011

Page 5

Mandurah Dunsborough Model

- Four-step model
Covers the area immediately south of the ROM 5 model years (2001, 06, 11, 21, 31) 2 user-classes assigned using a stochastic method

- Sub-areas models for Busselton and Bunbury inside regional model - A live model, used on a regular basis on request from clients
Converting MRWA TRIPS models to Cube Voyager 6 December 2011 Page 6

State Wide Model

- Four-step model
Covers whole of WA 5 model years (2001, 06, 11, 21, 31) Four trip purposes AADT Demand assigned using All-or-nothing or a stochastic method based on trip purpose

Converting MRWA TRIPS models to Cube Voyager

6 December 2011

Page 7

Some of the challenges along the way

Project Challenges and Outcomes MRDLOAD Challenges

Coded in Fortran Dial stochastic assignment but Cube Voyager doesnt have this feature Approximation for intersection capacity and delay based on link attributes Fast run times approx 30sec

Outcomes
Intersection capacity/delay calculations converted to Voyager scripting Incremental assignment methodology shown to most closely replicate MRDLOAD path building Run time only 2.5 minutes
6 December 2011 Page 9

Converting MRWA TRIPS models to Cube Voyager

Project Challenges and Outcomes MRDLOAD

Close match of VHT and VKT at global and link level (<1% difference) Difference plots reveal almost no difference in assigned link times Used in concert with BCRATIO, the resulting BCRs are within +/-1%

Converting MRWA TRIPS models to Cube Voyager

6 December 2011

Page 10

Project Challenges and Outcomes Regional Operations Model Challenges

Use of not just MRDLOAD, but also MODCAR and BCRATIO custom programs Simplistic folder structure and automated file naming for many files made indentifying key input and output files difficult 18 trip purposes

Outcomes
Scenario Manager set up with initial Keys Folder structure revised to better differentiate between Input, Output and intermediate files Sensible file names allocated to key Input and Output files BCRATIO and MODCAR converted to Voyager Only minor differences in final output demand tables (<0.5%).
6 December 2011 Page 11

Converting MRWA TRIPS models to Cube Voyager

Project Challenges and Outcomes Regional Operations Model - Expanded folder structure allows for better differentiation between Input, Output and intermediate files

Converting MRWA TRIPS models to Cube Voyager

6 December 2011

Page 12

Project Challenges and Outcomes Peak Period Model Challenges

MRWA junction coding included:
headers for all junctions Used fractional lanes to simulate shared lanes

Checks of the assigned network revealed some turns having very high delays Cube default conversion of junction coding did not adequately deal with these issues

Outcomes
Scenario Manager + Keys + Folder structure + file naming (as per ROM) MATRIX Record processing used to convert junction code. Able to successfully maintain headers, correctly interpret shared lanes, and mandate minimum capacities
6 December 2011 Page 13

Converting MRWA TRIPS models to Cube Voyager

Project Challenges and Outcomes Peak Period Model

25%

- Converted Voyager model yields:

More smaller delays (<10sec); and fewer larger delays (>30sec)

20%

Proportion

15%

10%

5%

0% 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Turn Delay (min) Voyager TRIPS

Converting MRWA TRIPS models to Cube Voyager

6 December 2011

Page 14

Project Challenges and Outcomes Mandurah Dunsborough and State Wide Models Challenges
MDM is a two tier model with two sub-regional models sitting inside a larger regional area model In both models, some user classes used dial stochastic processes for path-building. In the MDM this was treated inconsistently between the two sub-regional models

Outcomes
Scenario Manager + Keys + Folder structure + file naming (as per ROM) Dial path building used to provide a reasonable spread of trips Consistent sub-regional model process adopted

Converting MRWA TRIPS models to Cube Voyager

6 December 2011

Page 15

Project Challenges and Outcomes Mandurah Dunsborough and State Wide Models - Stochastic spread of paths not as extensive - However, some of the Dial paths arent realistic - Burrell path building shown to provide a reasonable spread of trips
Dial Paths TRIPS MDM Burrell Paths Converted Voyager MDM

6 December 2011 Converting MRWA TRIPS models to Cube Voyager

Page 16

Project Challenges and Outcomes Conclusions MRWA models now all sit inside Cube Voyager MRWA staff have been running both old and new models in parallel to gain experience, and compare outputs The conversion process highlighted a number of potential improvements to the MRWA models, some of these are only possible with the move to Voyager, for example the building of Cube Avenue models

Converting MRWA TRIPS models to Cube Voyager

6 December 2011

Page 17

Thank You

Shaun.Tabone@aecom.com