Course Overview
How the course is structured and what it prepares you to do.
Course overview
This course is organized as a series of practical planning modules. Each week introduces a key capability used in transportation planning studies—network building (GIS/OSM), demand modelling, signal control, mixed traffic/CAV scenarios, environmental assessment, ITS concepts, and 3D/VR visualization. Weekly hands-on sessions are self-contained and produce small outputs (e.g., a working model, a scenario test, or a KPI summary). In the final weeks, students assemble selected components into a mini alternatives analysis and communicate results through a short demo video and a public-facing project page.
Course Evaluation
Watch time: ___ hours
Repo: SUMO Traffic Simulator Tutorial
Replace placeholders with your latest Udemy/YouTube analytics when ready.
Course Outline
What you’ll learn and how you’ll be evaluated.
Learning Goals
- Explain where simulation fits in transportation planning studies
- Build/import road networks using GIS/OSM data and check model readiness
- Define and verify traffic movement, volume, and speed assumptions
- Design and test intersection control strategies (unsignalized, fixed-time, actuated)
- Model mixed traffic and CAV scenarios and compare alternatives
- Evaluate alternatives using planning KPIs (delay, queues, travel time, emissions/energy)
- Communicate results with clear tables, plots, and evidence-based recommendations
Assessment (example)
- In-class Deliverables (15%)
- Transportation News Brief (each student presents once) (10%)
- Final Project (35%)
- Assignments (10%)
- Midterm Examination (25%)
- Participation (5%)
Replace these weights with your real grading scheme.
Topics
Week-by-week topics and materials (theory + hands-on) are listed below.
| Week | Topic (Theory + Hands-on) | Materials |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Introduction to Traffic Simulation
Theory: What traffic simulation is, why it’s used, examples of planning studies, course overview
Hands-on: Set up the simulation software; explore files/UI; build a simple network; add traffic demand; test unsignalized vs signalized intersections
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| 2 |
Traffic Flow & Driver Behavior Models
Theory: Network elements, vehicle characteristics/dynamics, car-following and lane-changing, fundamentals (flow–density–speed)
Hands-on: Create/import networks; add volumes; define vehicle types; compare behavior settings for cars, bikes, and scooters
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| 3 |
Traffic Signal Planning in Simulation
Theory: Signalized vs unsignalized control, phases/cycle/lost time, fixed-time vs actuated control, basic optimization concepts
Hands-on: Build a signalized intersection; define phase programs; test fixed-time vs actuated timing
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| 4 |
Network Modelling with GIS & OSM
Theory: GIS basics, why GIS matters for simulation, what network details affect results
Hands-on: Intro to QGIS; download/prepare GIS/OSM data; import/build a network from GIS/OSM layers
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| 5 |
Demand Modelling & Route Assignment
Theory: Calibration basics for planning, defining movement/volume/speed assumptions
Hands-on: Create routes/flows; load volumes; verify movements and speeds in the simulation
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| 6 |
Mixed Traffic Planning: AVs & Human Drivers
Theory: CAV fundamentals, automation levels, mixed-traffic impacts, how simulators represent AV behavior
Hands-on: Create manual vs AV classes; test penetration rates (0%, 25%, 50%); compare alternatives using KPIs
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| 7 |
Environmental Analysis: Energy & Emissions
Theory: How operations affect energy/emissions, ICE vs EV basics, emission modelling concepts, output meaning/limits
Hands-on: Enable energy/emissions outputs; compare ICE vs EV scenarios; evaluate how signals/congestion affect results
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| 8 |
Midterm (Paper-Based): Model Reasoning
In-class: Interpret printed outputs (counts, speeds, travel times, queue plots, snapshots) to:
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| 9 |
Intelligent Transportation Systems in Simulation
Theory: ITS overview, sensing/data collection, examples and use cases, AI in ITS, smart signal control concepts
Hands-on: Implement a basic data-collection workflow; prototype a smart control concept in the simulation
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| 10 |
3D Traffic Simulation I
Theory: Why 3D visualization, core concepts, game engines for planning
Hands-on: Launch a game engine scene; build a basic 3D environment; visualize the simulated traffic in 3D
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| 11 |
3D Traffic Simulation II: VR Applications
Theory: VR fundamentals, VR in planning, driver simulators, future directions
Hands-on: Build a more complex VR traffic scenario and run a demo
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| 12 |
Portfolio & Communication
Theory: Communicating results to decision-makers (story + evidence + recommendation)
Hands-on: Final project page + demo video + screenshots + KPI tables/plots
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Resources
Software
- Traffic simulation software (microsimulation)
- GIS tools for network building (QGIS / OSM)
- Optional: game engine tools for 3D/VR visualization