Mechanisms for spatio-temporal pattern formation in highway traffic models
Mechanisms for spatio-temporal pattern formation in highway traffic models
A key qualitative requirement for highway traffic models is the ability to replicate a type of traffic jam popularly referred to as a phantom jam, shock wave or stop-and-go wave. Despite over 50 years of modelling, the precise mechanisms for the generation and propagation of stop-and-go waves and the associated spatio-temporal patterns are in dispute. However, the increasing availability of empirical datasets, such as those collected from motorway incident detection and automatic signalling system (MIDAS) inductance loops in the UK or the next-generation simulation trajectory data (NGSIM) project in the USA, means that we can expect to resolve these questions definitively in the next few years. This paper will survey the essence of the competing explanations of highway traffic pattern formation and introduce and analyse a new mechanism, based on dynamical systems theory and bistability, which can help resolve the conflict.
nonlinear dynamics, highway traffic modelling, stop-and-go waves
2017-2032
Wilson, R. Eddie
01d7f1f2-f8ee-4661-b713-dcefcddb89bd
June 2008
Wilson, R. Eddie
01d7f1f2-f8ee-4661-b713-dcefcddb89bd
Wilson, R. Eddie
(2008)
Mechanisms for spatio-temporal pattern formation in highway traffic models.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 366 (1872), .
(doi:10.1098/rsta.2008.0018).
Abstract
A key qualitative requirement for highway traffic models is the ability to replicate a type of traffic jam popularly referred to as a phantom jam, shock wave or stop-and-go wave. Despite over 50 years of modelling, the precise mechanisms for the generation and propagation of stop-and-go waves and the associated spatio-temporal patterns are in dispute. However, the increasing availability of empirical datasets, such as those collected from motorway incident detection and automatic signalling system (MIDAS) inductance loops in the UK or the next-generation simulation trajectory data (NGSIM) project in the USA, means that we can expect to resolve these questions definitively in the next few years. This paper will survey the essence of the competing explanations of highway traffic pattern formation and introduce and analyse a new mechanism, based on dynamical systems theory and bistability, which can help resolve the conflict.
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Published date: June 2008
Keywords:
nonlinear dynamics, highway traffic modelling, stop-and-go waves
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Local EPrints ID: 184243
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/184243
ISSN: 1364-503X
PURE UUID: c81432da-ac72-4029-905a-e1c36284802f
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Date deposited: 06 May 2011 13:03
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 03:07
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Author:
R. Eddie Wilson
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