On the Effects of Various Measures of Performance Selections on Simulation Model Calibration Performance

Objective. This paper examines the effects of various measures of performance (MOP) selections on simulation model calibration performance, in terms of reflecting actual traffic conditions and vehicle interactions. Method. Two intersections in Shanghai were selected for simulation model calibration, one for testing and another for validation. Three effective MOPs were utilized, including average travel time (i.e., time passing the intersection), average queue length, and vehicle headway distribution. The counts of three types of traffic conflicts (i.e., crossing, rear-end, and lane change) were used as safety MOPs. Those MOPs, as calibration objectives, were examined and compared. Results. The results of the testing site showed that different effective MOPs had their own advantages: average travel time appeared to be the best in reflecting lane change and rear-end conflicts while headway distribution performed the best consistency between simulated and actual crossing conflicts. Compared to the safety MOPs, average travel time and headway distribution still performed better, in terms of resulting in more similar simulated conflict metrics (e.g., TTC, PET) to actual ones. A multicriteria calibration strategy based on average travel time and headway distribution generally had better performances in reflecting actual traffic conditions and vehicle interactions than using any single effective or safety MOP. Similar results were found for the validation site. Conclusion. To simulate actual traffic conditions and vehicle interactions, multiple effective MOPs could be simultaneously considered for model calibration, instead of using safety MOPs.