COST Action TU0903 - MULTITUDE - Methods and tools for supporting the Use, caLibration and validaTIon of Traffic simUlations moDEls

Simulation models have, over the last decade, become an important tool in transportation science and engineering, however there are still many issues which cause difficulties and confusion and are restricting their use and uptake. These issues are now being addressed by the MULTITUDE project, funded by the European Union COST programme which intends to develop, test and promote the use of methods and procedures for the calibration and validation of traffic simulation models. Over the next 3 years, the project will examine issues such as data availability and quality, as well as the relationship between data accuracy and calibration, as well as developing and testing methodologies suitable for deterministic as well as stochastic models, covering issues such as: the role of simulators, instrumented vehicles and trajectory datasets; parsimony, over-fitting and transferability and; the development of a general methodology for drawing inference about the impact of model parameters on model outputs.