This page defines the core concepts used throughout ANYWAYS. These definitions are authoritative and are referenced by guides and other reference pages.
Network
A network represents a single state of the road network.
It consists of:
- Road segments
- Intersections
- Properties such as direction, access restrictions, and speed limits
A network may be:
- Unedited (the base network), or
- Edited to reflect things like road closures or circulation changes
A network does not contain:
- Traffic demand
- Routes
- Simulation results
Networks are used as the basis for routing and traffic assignment.
→ See Road network
Vehicle profile
A vehicle profile defines how a vehicle behaves when routing through a network.
A vehicle profile defines:
- The transport mode
- The routing behaviour (cost function)
- How road properties such as speed limits, access restrictions, and direction are interpreted
Vehicle profiles are used by the route planner to calculate routes.
Vehicle profiles are always identified using the format:
{vehicle}.{behaviour}Where:
{vehicle}specifies the transport mode (e.g.car,bicycle,truck)
{behaviour}specifies the routing behaviour (e.g.fast,short)
Examples of vehicle profiles include:
car.fast: fastest route by car
car.short: shortest route by car
bicycle.fast: fastest route by bicycle
→ See Vehicle profiles
Origin-destination (OD) data
Origin-destination (OD) data describes traffic demand.
OD data defines:
- Where trips start (origins)
- Where trips end (destinations)
- How many trips occur
OD data does not define:
- Which routes trips take
- How trips interact with the road network
OD data is an input used when creating datasets.
→ See Datasets
Dataset
A dataset represents a set of trips with defined routing behaviour.
A dataset consists of:
- One or more origin-destination (OD) datasets
- An associated vehicle profile for each OD dataset
Each OD dataset defines:
- Where trips start and end
- How many trips occur
The associated vehicle profile defines:
- How those trips behave when routing through a network
A dataset does not contain:
- A network
- Fixed routes
- Traffic assignment results
Datasets are evaluated on a network within a scenario to calculate routes and traffic flows.
→ See Datasets
→ See Vehicle profiles
Scenario
A scenario combines:
- One network, and
- One or more datasets
When datasets are evaluated on the network:
- Routes are calculated for each dataset
- Traffic flows are derived per road segment and per vehicle type
When multiple datasets are present, their resulting traffic flows are combined by aggregation:
- Per road segment
- Per vehicle type (car, bicycle, truck, pedestrian)
The aggregated result represents the total traffic simulated for the scenario.
→ See Simulation behaviour
Route planner
The route planner calculates routes through a network.
The route planner is used in two contexts:
- Manually, to explore and compare routes in a network
- Automatically, to assign routes when creating datasets
The route planner operates on a network and does not require a scenario or datasets when used manually.
Relationship between concepts
- A network defines the road infrastructure and its properties.
- Origin-destination (OD) data defines traffic demand, specifying where trips start and end, how many trips occur, and for which vehicle types.
- A vehicle profile defines how a specific vehicle type and behaviour routes through the network.
- A dataset assigns one or more OD datasets to a network using their associated vehicle profiles, resulting in routed traffic.
- A scenario combines a network with one or more datasets.
- Counts are aggregated per road segment
- Counts are aggregated per vehicle type (e.g. car, bicycle, truck, pedestrian)
When multiple datasets are present in a scenario, their traffic is combined by aggregation:
The aggregated result represents the total traffic simulated for the scenario.