Improving the Sustainability and Safety of the City Transport System Through the Application of Computer Modeling

The high rates of motorization observed in recent decades are accompanied by a number of negative phenomena and processes, among which the most significant are: a decrease in traffic capacity and, as a consequence, the occurrence of traffic congestion, environmental pollution with harmful substances contained in vehicle exhaust gases, and road injuries. Radical ways to improve the traffic situation, increase the sustainability and safety of the transport system, including expensive infrastructure projects, are optimal for megacities, but are not always available for small cities with low urban budget parameters. For such cities, it is advisable to use the method of simulation modeling of transport processes. This article discusses the development of a simulation model of an emergency-hazardous section of the city's road network with subsequent verification, validation of the model and conducting virtual experiments on it. A 3D simulation model was developed using GIS technologies based on the results of field studies of the parameters of transport and pedestrian flows. The validity of the computer model was assessed using two statistical criteria and was confirmed by the consistency of the results obtained during field studies and modeling. High validity indicators of the simulation model provide a greater degree of reliability of the results when conducting virtual experiments. For the analyzed emergency area, three options for improving the road situation were considered, for all of them the indicators of throughput, environmental and road safety were calculated, and the optimal option was selected.