Traffic flow model of network simulators for estimation of CO2 emissions

This paper describes a new approach to developing a traffic flow model of traffic network simulators for the estimation of CO2 emissions by considering various measures such as the use of vehicle control systems and transportation demand management (TDM) strategies. Thus far, we have developed the traffic network simulator NETSTREAM (NETwork Simulator for TRaffic Efficiency And Mobility), which has been able to reproduce traffic congestion in large-scale networks because of its unique traffic flow model. This paper proposes an enhancement of this model: acceleration is also considered because it has a significant effect on the calculation of CO2 emissions. The proposed model is then verified and validated. The results indicate that it can reproduce acceleration in a way that closely agrees with the actual data, while maintaining the QK and KV relationships. Finally, this paper presents an example evaluation of an acceleration control system. We confirm that the proposed traffic flow model can evaluate environmental improvements in large-scale networks. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.