Transferability of a Stochastic Toll Plaza Computer Model

Abstract

Transferability of the TPSIM toll plaza microsimulation computer model to other toll plazas was explored with 3 days of data collected between 1994 and 2000 at Dean Plaza, an Orlando–Orange County Expressway Authority (OOCEA) toll plaza. TPSIM is a discrete-event stochastic microscopic simulation model that has been previously validated at the 95% confidence level with data from OOCEA’s busiest toll plaza, Holland East Plaza. This model has the capability to accurately model virtually any toll plaza scenario. To apply this model to another toll plaza, a calibration procedure is necessary. To identify the modifications necessary to the input parameters, over 400 simulation runs with the 3 selected days from Dean Plaza were compared and statistically analyzed for accuracy. An experimental design was outlined and followed to accurately account for each trial simulation run during the calibration process. The service time was determined to have the most significant impact on the simulation model in much the same manner as it does in the field. The measures of effectiveness (MOEs) chosen to evaluate TPSIM were throughput, average queuing delay, maximum queuing delay, and total queuing delay. At the 95% confidence level, no significant difference was found in the comparison of field and simulated MOE values for all 3 days. Comparison of the Holland East and Dean Plaza results indicates that the TPSIM simulation model is transferable to another toll plaza with different configurations.