Benchmark of road network division methods for distributed or parallel road traffic simulation

Abstract The division of road network into sub-networks prior to the simulation (i.e., static division) is a common part of distributed or parallel road traffic simulation. Its quality has significant impact of the speed of the entire simulation, but the mutual comparison of the division methods is difficult, as their descriptions contain inconsistent tests. Hence, in this paper, a benchmark for static road network division methods is presented. It is based on performing divisions of road networks with various sizes and observing multiple parameters of the sub-networks and their computation time. These values are summarized into scores utilizable for direct comparison of the division methods. The description of a publicly available tool enabling actual performance of the benchmark—ROad Network DIvision BEnchmark Tool or RONDIBET—is also provided. The tool was also used to demonstrate the functioning of the benchmark in a case study on three different division methods.