Development of a multi-resolution large-scale vehicular traffic simulation and assignment model to assess impact of port-of-entry on regional infrastructure

Land border ports-of-entry (POE) are critical in both national and regional terms. By offering legal and safe crossing points, they help integrate people and economies between nations. As security continues to take a more prominent role, the impacts of periodically heightened security measures generate substantial short-term and long-term impacts on economy and social-demographic activities on border cities. Such impacts have not been well understood as most prior studies apply infrastructure component based approaches without a broader view of spatial and temporal impact of the POE on the regional infrastructure. This paper discusses the development of the multi-resolution large-scale vehicular traffic simulation and assignment model to enhance this modeling capability. The utilization of mesoscopic/microscopic modeling techniques integrates the simulation-based queuing and regional traffic simulation assignment approaches. Empirical results highlight the capability of the developed model in capturing the dynamic interactions of a complex transportation system.