This page defines datasets in ANYWAYS, their structure, behaviour, and the types currently supported.
Datasets are used to represent traffic assigned to a network and are combined within scenarios to simulate traffic.
What is a 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
- For which vehicle type and time period
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.
Dataset behaviour
When a dataset is evaluated on a network:
- Routes are calculated using the route planner
- Routing behaviour is determined by the associated vehicle profiles
- Traffic flows are derived per road segment and per vehicle type
The same dataset can produce different routing results when evaluated on different networks.
Dataset types
ANYWAYS currently supports three dataset types.
Traffic counts dataset
A traffic counts dataset is used to simulate existing traffic based on observed traffic counts.
This dataset type is defined by:
- A set of origin-destination (OD) pairs defined by the user
- A set of traffic counters placed on the network
- Observed vehicle counts per counter and vehicle type
- A set of possible vehicle profiles
Instead, ANYWAYS estimates traffic assignment by:
- Fitting an OD matrix for each selected vehicle profile
- Predicting routes through the network for each vehicle profile
- Optimising the fit between predicted traffic and observed traffic counts
The result is a set of OD matrix and vehicle profile pairs whose combined routing best matches the observed traffic counts. These fitted OD matrices and their associated vehicle profiles together form the resulting traffic assignment for the dataset.
Locations dataset
A locations dataset is used to simulate traffic travelling to or from a single location. This dataset type is commonly used for traffic impact assessments.
A locations dataset is defined by:
- A central location
- One or more distance bands (“donut” distances) around the location
- A number of randomly generated origin or destination locations within each band
Trips are generated:
- Towards the central location, or
- Away from the central location
Generated OD datasets are then assigned to the network using the selected vehicle profile.
Manual dataset
A manual dataset is used when users already have their own OD data or quickly want to test a very specific set of routes.
In a manual dataset:
- OD data is entered directly by the user
- The OD dataset is associated with a vehicle profile
This dataset type provides full control over demand definition and routing behaviour.
Relationship to other concepts
- Datasets use networks as the basis for routing
- Datasets use vehicle profiles to determine routing behaviour
- Datasets are combined within scenarios by aggregation
- Routing is performed using the route planner
→ See Concepts
→ See Vehicle profiles
→ See Simulation behaviour