SECOND EDITION of our CRITIQUE REPORT -
In response to the new Austroads Report AP-R647-21 (Management of Traffic Modelling Processes).
In response to our critique, Austroads carried out a major revision of Report AP-R621-20 and replaced it with Report AP-R647-21. In its News Alert, Austroads noted: “We thank Sidra Solutions for sharing its perspectives and expertise …. We reviewed their feedback in collaboration with the subject matter experts from each of our member agencies and made multiple updates in response.”
As the authors of the critique report, Mark Besley, Ian Espada, David Nash and I thank professionals who supported our submission, and Austroads for its positive response to our feedback. In summary, there have been significant improvements in clarifying aspects of the previous report we criticised including advice to project managers to consult expert model users about the choice of appropriate modelling techniques and software. However, the Traffic Model Categorisation scheme remains unchanged. Our disagreement about the "Simulation Model - Intersection Model" dichotomy remains. Our preferred Model Categorisation based on the geographic extent of the area to be modelled and the purpose of model use remains current. We hope the profession will pay attention to this issue as this categorisation could lead to misinformed decision making in the preparation of modelling briefs with impacts on the quality of modelling outputs used in the design and operation of critical traffic facilities.
Dr Rahmi Akçelik
Director
SIDRA SOLUTIONS