• Vissim
Vissim

Although Vissim is a microscopic simulation as SUMO is, it follows a completely different concept of modelling traffic. Due to this, the import is quite clumsy, does not work with all networks, and manual work on the imported network is necessary. The option which forces netconvert to read a vissim file is --vissim-file <FILE> or --vissim <FILE> for short. A usage example for netconvert's Vissim import may look like:

netconvert --vissim-file=<VISSIM_FILE> --output-file=MySUMOFile.net.xml

Vissim-networks do possibly not contain explicit definitions of an edge's speed. We have to propagate once set velocities, but even then some edges' speeds may not be defined. The option --vissim.default-speed <FLOAT> may change the default speed used in the case an edge's speed is not defined. The default value for this parameter is 13.89m/s, being around 50km/h. The second parameter --vissim.speed-norm <FLOAT> describes the factor to multiply a described flows maximum velocity to gain the velocity to use. The default value is 1.

Furthermore, as we have to use geometrical heuristics for joining connections to nodes, a further factor steers the process of converting Vissim-networks: simply spoken, --vissim.join-distance <FLOAT> holds the information how near two nodes must be (in meters) to be joined.

During import, different actions must be done which may yield in some loss of data and may be watched in part by setting the verbose option.

As of SVN revision [18592] the import parser used by netconvert was extended to accommodate for the new XML input file format (*.inpx) of VISSIM version >= 6 (which makes a lot of things a lot easier)...

Advice on VISSIM network structure#

In order to enhance the quality of the imported network, the VISSIM network structure should follow some general guidelines. Although VISSIM has no problems with using links instead of connectors and the other way round, it is best to stick to the following rule for the net to be imported with netconvert:

  • use links mostly outside of intersections
  • use one connector to connect a set of inbound and outbound lanes of an intersection
  • avoid using a sequence of links and connectors inside the intersection if possible
  • refrain from creating overlapping link shapes when adding turn lanes at approaches

The overall goal in mind is to make it as easy as possible for netconvert to detect the actual intersection size and all its turning relations.

Converted VISSIM net elements#

  • links (STRECKEN)
  • connectors (VERBINDER)
  • aggregation of connectors to SUMO junctions
  • conflict areas (KONFLIKTFLÄCHEN) for the proper translation of priorities

Conversion of further VISSIM-net features#

is currently done by some python scripts contained in the

VISSIM Import Toolbox (description in German only, currently)

which include the conversion of following elements:

  • Route definitions and In-flows (vehicle sources)
  • Traffic light (LSA) program definitions
  • Vehicle (loop-) detector definitions

Known Problems#

  • All actuated traffic lights are mapped onto the same type of traffic light (MSActuatedTrafficLight)
  • Additional source and sink links are built
  • Intersections mixing a lot of links and connectors will not be converted correctly

For input files (*.inp) from before VISSIM version 6#

  • this works with German networks only (see #Converting VISSIM networks to German for tips on conversion)
  • reading of .inp files containing z-coordinates for network geometries (link polylines) is not supported and erroneous.
  • conflict areas (Konfliktflächen) are not being processed

Converting VISSIM networks to German#

If you have VISSIM and the German language is available, it should be fairly simple to convert your English language network to a German file, so that it can be imported by SUMO.

This assumes that you are starting with an English-language VISSIM.

  • Click on Menu View, Options...
  • Go to the Language & Units tab
  • Select Language, Deutsch
  • Click OK
  • Click on the (now in a different language) menu Datei, Speichern unter (File, Save as)
  • Save the file somewhere else
  • Click OK on any warning messages
  • To get back to English, click menu item Ansicht, Optionen (View, Options)
  • Select tab Sprache & Einheiten
  • Select Sprache, English
  • Click OK