The role of interactive graphics when applying traffic simulation models

The authors discuss the advantages of an interactive computer graphics (ICG) system that provides users with a new and highly efficient methodology for analyzing results generated by simulation models. An ICG tool that can be executed on microcomputer (i.e. PCs) or on graphics workstations greatly enhances the value of the simulation model by providing insights that cannot easily be obtained by other means. To demonstrate the utility of ICG systems for simulation models, the authors outline the concepts and objectives guiding the design of a tool names GTRAF which presents displays of results generated by a microscopic traffic simulation model named NETSIM. The reader is `walked-through´ and ICG session with GTRAF, with several photographs of the displays shown to illustrate its value