Topological and Operational Improvements to a Cell-Transmission-Based Simulation Model

The cell transmission model (CTM) developed by Daganzo in 1994, represents a reliable and efficient simulation environment mostly for transportation planning applications. This research study demonstrates that specific improvements can convert CTM into an operations model for large-scale traffic networks. These improvements include modification to allow for a variable cell length and adjustments to the flow advancing algorithms for a better representation of traffic flow. Evaluation and comparison of the improved version of CTM versus CORSIM has been performed using a freeway network of I-10 corridor in Baton Rouge. In addition, a sensitivity analysis demonstrates the model's good performance under the improvements developed in this study.