A macroscopic model of the whole of Middlesbrough with six microsimulation subnetworks covering the town centre and key corridors. The model enables both strategic and detailed local analysis of different transport interventions and development proposals to understand impacts and improve decision making.

Fore originally developed several standalone Aimsun models for Middlesbrough including the town centre and the key corridors of the A171 Cargo Fleet Lane and the A172 Marton Road. These models were used by Fore for a range of projects including testing the proposed bus strategy, assessing the impacts of development proposals and developing multi-modal transport proposals fort the Cargo Fleet Lane corridor.

A key application of Aimsun in Middlesbrough was assessing options for the A66 Cargo Fleet Lane Roundabout and the associated Cargo Fleet Lane / South Bank Road junction. The preferred scheme is now operating successfully on site.

The standalone models have subsequently been subsumed into a macroscopic model of the whole of Middlesbrough, which enables the strategic effects of interventions to be assessed. Microsimulation subnetworks are then used to determine the detailed local impacts of the interventions as well as providing a visual representation of vehicles on the network.

The Middlesbrough Aimsun model has been used to assess the impact of a number of development proposals across the borough, rapidly becoming the method of choice for Highways Development Control to understand both the impacts of developments in isolation as well as the cumulative effects of all developments and transport proposals across the network. Other key uses for the model include assessing the impact of the Local Plan, informing the Infrastructure Delivery Plan and assessing transport proposals for Middlesbrough’s Future High Street Fund bid, including interfacing the model with TUBA and COBALT to undertake cost-benefit analysis. The model has also been used to test Middlesbrough’s Mobility Corridors concept, which included an assessment of pedestrian and cycle impacts and the development of a network-wide cycle matrix.

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