Covering an area equivalent to 22 football pitches, Jaguar Land Rover operates one of the most advanced car manufacturing facilities in the world in Solihull, England. About 10.000 employees come to work here every day. That requires not only a huge car park, but also an efficient local highway network. When the idea of an on-site employee multi-storey car park (MSCP) came up, the car manufacturer together with Solihull Council requested the assessment of the impacts of this project both within the site and on local traffic, for which URS (now AECOM) collaborated with Multimodal on.

Modelling a typical day in the factory

Given the need to test the detailed internal workings of the entire factory over a 24-hour period, as well as the surrounding highway network, a microsimulation model was seen as the best option. On behalf of URS, we developed a base model in PTV Vissim using survey data. Our key focus was on ensuring all the internal workings with regards to arrival/departure patterns, car park operation and delivery schedules. We modelled a whole 24-hour period, as opposed to only the normal peak hours, to better understand the impacts of proposals across the full working day.

“Right before a shift starts, thousands of employees approach the premises of the Jaguar factory, block up the surrounding streets and pour into the car park. We helped to develop a more efficient way to steer this traffic.”

Bring the new car park into the equation

We then added the proposed improvements, including the new MSCP, to the model. As this was done using PTV Vissim v5.4, each bay had to be manually created and all priority rules added individually to prevent conflicting movements.

Once the proposed models were developed, an iterative process was then undertaken with URS to identify the impacts and make refinements to the designs to allow a suitable level of operation both within the site and on the surrounding network.

Modelling the car park was just the first step

We didn’t just help to come up with a model and a preferred design option for the new staff MSCP. Working with URS, we also tested a package of works on the local highway network that would mitigate the impact of the staff arrivals and departures. PTV Vissim with its 2D and 3D simulation views was a big help in presenting the results to the clients since it allows for complex projects to be visualized in a way that all relevant parties can relate to and understand, even if they don’t have a background in traffic modelling.

In addition to that, we worked closely with URS and used the created model to test other internal workings within the site, including the delivery bay layouts, different delivery schedules and shift patterns. We also assessed the effects of future growth on the car park as well as on the surrounding local highway network.

More about Daniel:

Through his work, Daniel wants to play his part in helping to improve both the quality of life for people and the economy through ensuring all transport schemes he is involved with are suitable and fit for the purposes for all users. Seeing a project, he had an input into, be built and in operation and this way leaving his own little mark on the world we live in – that is what satisfies him and motivates him to continuously improve his skills.

Since graduating in 2007, Daniel worked for AECOM as a consultant within the transportation sector. Here he gained experience in traffic modelling and has been involved in a variety of preliminary design projects, including Network Modelling, Corridor Studies and Feasibility Studies. Daniel is now working as an Associate for microsimulation company, Multimodal, where he has taken on a specialised and technical role, diversifying his microsimulation skills to include the modelling of people (stadia, shared space), cyclists, parking (cars and coaches) and logistics (operational planning).

You want to get in touch with Daniel? Connect with him on LinkedIn.

Jochen Lohmiller, Manager PTV Vissim Product Management at PTV Group

“Simulating car parking is a common use case of PTV Vissim. The tool allows you not just to model ordinary on- or off-street parking spaces, but also – like in Daniel’s project – multi-storey car parks, truck waiting and unloading areas, and car park guidance systems. Have you also modelled a special kind of car park and want to share your project with the community? Then just write us and we will present you and your story on this website.

By the way: Did you know that cars spend around 95% of the time parked?”

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