An Efficient Sensitivity Analysis Approach for Computationally Expensive Microscopic Traffic Simulation Models

Microscopic traffic simulators are useful tools for designing, evaluating and optimizing transportation systems. In order for a simulator to accurately describe reality, the corresponding traffic model must be properly calibrated. However, the calibration can be rather difficult when the model is computationally expensive and has many parameters. To overcome these difficulties, Sensitivity Analysis (SA) can be applied as an essential instrument for supporting model calibration. Through SA the practitioners can obtain valuable information about the relationship between model inputs and outputs, and hence focus on the proper set of most influential parameters for the calibration. Notice, however, that many quantitative SA techniques may also fail with computationally expensive models. To address the above issues, in this paper we developed the quasi-OTEE method, an efficient and qualitative SA approach based on the Elementary Effects (EE) method. The quasi-OTEE approach is able to screen the most influential parameters of a complex model through computing and comparing their Sensitivity Indexes. With the improved sampling strategy, this approach is much more efficient than the original EE method. The approach is validated through a numerical analysis, and a case study of a small synthetic network in Aimsun. A more detailed case study of the Zurich network in VISSIM is then provided to illustrate its application. The results demonstrate that the proposed approach is an effective SA tool for the computationally expensive microscopic traffic models, as well as other complex models in the general scientific community.