Sensitivity analysis of CORSIM with respect to the process of freeway flow breakdown at bottleneck locations

Various microscopic simulation models have been used for studying traffic operations along freeway segments. An important desirable function of these models is their ability to obtain capacity and replicate the breakdown process realistically. The objectives of this paper are to evaluate the capability of a microsimulation model, CORSIM, to replicate the process of breakdown and to perform a sensitivity analysis on driver behavior parameters. The research findings indicate that CORSIM has some strengths and some weaknesses with respect to the breakdown process. Sensitivity analysis shows the different effects of these parameters on the breakdown occurrence and provides recommendations on the application of these parameters to provide a more realistic representation of traffic operations.