Methodological Foundations of the Traffic Simulation Process

There is an urgent need to design and evaluate strategies that improve the mobility of people and goods in urban regions while reducing energy consumption and vehicular emissions. Traffic simulation is an increasingly powerful tool to address this challenge; however, it requires extensive input data and involves multiple steps and decisions, which can make the process complex. This paper provides researchers and practitioners with a comprehensive methodological framework for modeling and simulating urban traffic, along with key insights and practical recommendations. These contributions are grounded in both the literature and the authors’ experience across multiple traffic simulation applications, enabling the paper to offer guidelines that facilitate the implementation of urban traffic simulation while identifying areas that warrant further research. Unlike previous reviews, this study synthesizes practical lessons from real-world microsimulation projects and integrates methodological guidance applicable across different simulation scales.