Traffic states and jamming transitions induced by a bus in two-lane traffic flow

We study the traffic states and jamming transitions induced by a bus (slow car) in a two-lane traffic of cars. We use the dynamic model which is an extended one of the optimal velocity model to take into account the lane changing. The fundamental (flow-density) diagram is presented. The fundamental diagram changes highly by introducing a bus on a two-lane roadway. It is found that there are the six distinct states for the two-lane traffic flow including a bus. The spatio-temporal patterns are presented for the distinct traffic states. The dynamical state of traffic changes with density of cars. It is shown that the dynamical transitions among the distinct traffic states occur at some values of density. The phase diagram (region map) is shown for the two-lane traffic flow including a bus.     

Cellular automata simulation of traffic including cars and bicycles

As ‘greening’ of all aspects of human activity becomes mainstream, transportation science is also increasingly focused around sustainability. Modal co-existence between motorised and non-motorised traffic on urban networks is, in this context, of particular interest for traffic flow modelling. The main modelling problems here are posed by the heterogeneity of vehicles, including size and dynamics, and by the complex interactions at intersections. Herein we address these with a novel technique, based on one-dimensional cellular automata components, for modelling network infrastructure and its occupancy by vehicles. We use this modelling approach, together with a corresponding vehicle behaviour model, to simulate combined car and bicycle traffic for two elemental scenarios—examples of components that would be used in the building of an arbitrary network. Results of simulations performed on these scenarios, (i) a stretch of road and (ii) an intersection causing conflict between cars and bicycles sharing a lane, are presented and analysed.     

城市道路U形转向交通流特性模拟分析

以NaSch模型为基础建立设置U形转向的路段交通流模型,对其特性进行模拟分析. 结果表明,U形转向路口对交通流影响显著,会导致在较小进车概率时发生自由流状态到拥挤状态的相变,相应的临界流量也随之降低. 设置双U形转向系统的相变、临界流量等交通流特性与单转向系统具有明显差异,其系统效率较高. 在实际交通规划与管理时应避免设置单转向系统,以减小U形转向的负面影响. 关键词： 交通流 元胞自动机 U形转向 相变     

Properties of Phase Transition of Traffic Flow on Urban Expressway Systems with Ramps and Accessory Roads

In this paper, we develop a cellular automaton model to describe the phase transition of traffic flow on urban expressway systems with on-off-ramps and accessory roads. The lane changing rules are given in detailed, the numerical results show that the main road and the accessory road both produce phase transitions. These phase transitions will often be influenced by the number of lanes, lane changing, the ramp flow, the input flow rate, and the geometry structure.     

Cellular automaton simulations for mixed traffic with erratic motorcycles’ behaviours

Modeling mixed traffic composed of motorcycles can be a challenging issue because many erratic motorcyclists may not follow the lane disciplines, particularly when traffic is congested. Based upon the refined cellular automaton (CA) model recently developed by the authors [L.W. Lan, Y.C. Chiou, Z.S. Lin, C.C. Hsu, Physica A 388 (2009) 3917-3930], this paper further proposed a sophisticated CA model to elucidate the erratic motorcycle behaviours in mixed traffic contexts. In addition to the conventional moving forward and lane-change rules, the sophisticated CA model also explicated the lateral drift behaviour for cars moving in the same lane, the lateral drift behaviour for motorcycles breaking into two moving cars, and the transverse crossing behaviour for motorcycles through the gap between two stationary cars in the same lane. Fundamental diagrams and space-time trajectories for vehicles with various car-motorcycle mixed ratios are demonstrated.     

A Cellular Automaton Model for Two-Lane Traffic

We present some long time limit properties of a cellular automaton that models traffic of cars on a (infinite) two-lane road. This model, called TL184, is a natural generalization of the cellular automaton classified as 184 by Wolfram (to be abbreviated by CA184) and studied before as a model for one-lane traffic. TL184 models cars' motions on each lane by particles that interact via the CA184 rules, and cars' lane changes by a possibility for particles to flip from one CA184 to another. We calculate the infinite-time limit of the particle current in TL184, starting from a translation invariant measure, and use this result to show how the possibility of lane changes may enhance the current of cars in TL184 compared to that in a corresponding model of two non-interacting one-lane roads. We provide examples which demonstrate that even though the rules that regulate lane changes are completely symmetric, the system does not evolve to an equipartition of cars among both lanes from a given initially asymmetric distribution; moreover, the asymptotic car velocities and currents may be different on different lanes. We also show that, for a particular class of initial distributions, the asymptotic car density on a lane may be a non-monotonic function of the initial car density on this lane. Finally, we derive the current-density relation for an extended continuous-time version of TL184 with asymmetric lane-changing rules.     

Vehicular motion in counter traffic flow through a series of signals controlled by a phase shift

We study the dynamical behavior of counter traffic flow through a sequence of signals (traffic lights) controlled by a phase shift. There are two lanes for the counter traffic flow: the first lane is for east-bound vehicles and the second lane is for west-bound vehicles. The green-wave strategy is studied in the counter traffic flow where the phase shift of signals in the second lane has opposite sign to that in the first lane. A nonlinear dynamic model of the vehicular motion is presented by nonlinear maps at a low density. There is a distinct difference between the traffic flow in the first lane and that in the second lane. The counter traffic flow exhibits very complex behavior on varying the cycle time, the phase difference, and the split. Also, the fundamental diagram is derived by the use of the cellular automaton (CA) model. The dependence of east-bound and west-bound vehicles on cycle time, phase difference, and density is clarified.     

Numerical study of urban traffic flow with dedicated bus lane and intermittent bus lane

Based on the cellular automaton traffic flow model and the concept of public transport priority, a two-lane traffic model with an intermittent bus lane is proposed and the properties of urban traffic flow are studied. The cases of traffic with a dedicated bus lane (DBL), an intermittent bus lane (IBL) and an ordinary two-lane traffic are simulated, and comparisons in the form of the fundamental diagrams and the velocity-density profiles are made between them. It is shown that the DBL has the advantage of freeing buses from traffic interference and also has the disadvantage of disrupting traffic, the IBL is more efficient in improving the bus flow than ordinary two-lane traffic and maintaining the car flow at a higher level at the same time than the DBL, while the ordinary two-lane traffic suppresses public transportation and is not advantageous in easing urban traffic congestion. Also it is indicated that the DBL is only appropriate for low traffic flow in a two-lane traffic system, and this limitation can be partly overcome by opening the bus lane to general traffic intermittently when the bus lane is not in use by buses.     

A stochastic multi-cluster model of freeway traffic

A stochastic approach based on the Master equation is proposed to describe the process of formation and growth of car clusters in traffic flow in analogy to usual aggregation phenomena such as the formation of liquid droplets in supersaturated vapour. By this method a coexistence of many clusters on a one-lane circular road has been investigated. Analytical equations have been derived for calculation of the stationary cluster distribution and related physical quantities of an infinitely large system of interacting cars. If the probability per time (or p) to decelerate a car without an obvious reason tends to zero in an infinitely large system, our multi-cluster model behaves essentially in the same way as a one-cluster model studied before. In particular, there are three different regimes of traffic flow (free jet of cars, coexisting phase of jams and isolated cars, highly viscous heavy traffic) and two phase transitions between them. At finite values of p the behaviour is qualitatively different, i.e., there is no sharp phase transition between the free jet of cars and the coexisting phase. Nevertheless, a jump-like phase transition between the coexisting phase and the highly viscous heavy traffic takes place both at and at a finite p. Monte-Carlo simulations have been performed for finite roads showing a time evolution of the system into the stationary state. In distinction to the one-cluster model, a remarkable increasing of the average flux has been detected at certain densities of cars due to finite-size effects. Received 17 September 1999     

Presence of many stable nonhomogeneous states in an inertial car-following model

We present a single lane car- following model of traffic flow which is inertial and free of collisions. It demonstrates observed features of traffic flow such as existence of three regimes: free, nonhomogeneous congested (NHC) or synchronized, and homogeneous congested (HC) or jammed flow; bistability of free and NHC flow states in a range of densities, hysteresis in transitions between these states; jumps in the density-flux plane in the NHC regime; gradual spatial transition from synchronized to free flow; long survival time of jams in the HC regime. The model predicts that in the NHC regime there exist many stable states with different wavelengths, and noise can cause transitions between them.     

Traffic noise spectrum analysis: Dynamic modeling vs. experimental observations

This paper compares two traffic representations for the assessment of urban noise frequency spectrum: (i) a static one, based on mean vehicle speeds and flow rates, (ii) a dynamic one, which considers vehicle interactions along the network. The two representations are compared on their suitability to match real on-field noise levels, recorded on a three lane quite busy street. Representation (i) fails in reproducing spectra envelopes that correspond to this site. In particular, it underestimates low frequencies, what can conceal the real impact of traffic flow on urban sound quality. Representation (ii) greatly improves estimation. It guarantees accurate environmental noise assessment, since it reproduces all traffic situations that are encountered in the site. Moreover, its 1s-based structure allows for the evaluation of spectra variations, with a good accuracy.     

敏感换道对下匝道系统交通流的影响

在NaSh模型基础上,充分考虑驾驶员在匝口指示牌的诱导作用下驾驶方式的变化,定义了车辆在匝口上游的换道、直行驾驶规则,提出了敏感换道的元胞自动机下匝道交通流模型. 通过计算机数值模拟,结果表明：敏感换道过程能减少直行车道上的转出车辆比例,对非必要的换道行为有明显的抑制作用,且随敏感换道区长度增加,该作用越明显;匝口提示位置并非越长越好,系统转出车辆比例越小,系统所需的最佳敏感换道区长度越短. 工程设计中根据转出车辆比例选取一个适宜距离安放匝口指示牌,能有效增加系统流量和临界加入概率. 关键词： 交通流 元胞自动机 驾驶方式 计算机数值模拟     

The Stability of Multi-modal Traffic Network

There is an explicit and implicit assumption in multimodal traffic equilibrium models, that is, if the equilibrium exists, then it will also occur. The assumption is very idealized; in fact, it may be shown that the quite contrary could happen, because in multimodal traffic network, especially in mixed traffic conditions the interaction among traffic modes is asymmetric and the asymmetric interaction may result in the instability of traffic system. In this paper, to study the stability of multimodal traffic system, we respectively present the travel cost function in mixed traffic conditions and in traffic network with dedicated bus lanes. Based on a day-to-day dynamical model, we study the evolution of daily route choice of travelers in multimodal traffic network using 10000 random initial values for different cases. From the results of simulation, it can be concluded that the asymmetric interaction between the cars and buses in mixed traffic conditions can lead the traffic system to instability when traffic demand is larger. We also study the effect of travelers' perception error on the stability of multimodal traffic network. Although the larger perception error can alleviate the effect of interaction between cars and buses and improve the stability of traffic system in mixed traffic conditions, the traffic system also become instable when the traffic demand is larger than a number. For all cases simulated in this study, with the same parameters, traffic system with dedicated bus lane has better stability for traffic demand than that in mixed traffic conditions. We also find that the network with dedicated bus lane has higher portion of travelers by bus than it of mixed traffic network. So it can be concluded that building dedicated bus lane can improve the stability of traffic system and attract more travelers to choose bus reducing the traffic congestion.     

Simon-Gutowitz bidirectional traffic model revisited

The Simon-Gutowitz bidirectional traffic model [P.M. Simon, H.A. Gutowitz, Phys. Rev. E 57 (1998) 2441] is revisited in this Letter. We found that passing cars get stuck with oncoming cars before returning to their home lanes. This provokes the occurrence of wide jams on both lanes. We have rectified the rules for lane changing. Then, the wide jams disappear and the revisited model can describe well the realistic bidirectional traffic.     

The Stability of Multi-modal Traffic Network

There is an explicit and implicit assumption in multimodal traffic equilibrium models, that is, if the equilibrium exists, then it will also occur. The assumption is very idealized; in fact, it may be shown that the quite contrary could happen, because in multimodal traffic network, especially in mixed traffic conditions the interaction among traffic modes is asymmetric and the asymmetric interaction may result in the instability of traffic system. In this paper, to study the stability of multimodal traffic system, we respectively present the travel cost function in mixed traffic conditions and in traffic network with dedicated bus lanes. Based on a day-to-day dynamical model, we study the evolution of daily route choice of travelers in multimodal traffic network using 10000 random initial values for different cases. From the results of simulation, it can be concluded that the asymmetric interaction between the cars and buses in mixed traffic conditions can lead the traffic system to instability when traffic demand is larger. We also study the effect of travelers' perception error on the stability of multimodal traffic network. Although the larger perception error can alleviate the effect of interaction between cars and buses and improve the stability of traffic system in mixed traffic conditions, the traffic system also become instable when the traffic demand is larger than a number. For all cases simulated in this study, with the same parameters, traffic system with dedicated bus lane has better stability for traffic demand than that in mixed traffic conditions. We also find that the network with dedicated bus lane has higher portion of travelers by bus than it of mixed traffic network. So it can be concluded that building dedicated bus lane can improve the stability of traffic system and attract more travelers to choose bus reducing the traffic congestion.     

Traffic flow of a roundabout crossing with an open boundary condition

This paper presents a cellular automaton traffic flow model with an open boundary condition to describe the traffic flow at a roundabout crossing with an inner roundabout lane and an outer roundabout lane. The simulation results show that the boundary condition, bottlenecks and the self-organization affect the traffic flow at the roundabout crossing. Because of the effect of bottlenecks, jams easily appear on the inner roundabout lane. To improve the capacity of the roundabout system, proper values of the enter probability α and the out probability $\beta $ can be chosen.     

A study on the effects of the transit parking time on traffic flow based on cellular automata theory

This paper mainly deals with the effects of transit stops on vehicle speeds and conversion lane numbers in a mixed traffic lane.Based on thorough research of traffic flow and cellular automata theory,it calibrates the cellular length and the running speed.Also,a cellular automata model for mixed traffic flow on a two-lane system under a periodic boundary condition is presented herewith,which also takes into consideration the harbour-shaped transit stop as well.By means of computer simulation,the article also studies the effects of bus parking time on the traffic volume,the transit speed and the fast lane speed at the same time.The results demonstrate that,with the increase of the bus parking time,the traffic volume of the transit stop and the transit speed decrease while the fast lane speed increases.This result could help calculate the transit delay correctly and make arrangements for transit routes reasonably and scientifically.     

考虑意外事件对交通流影响的元胞自动机交通流模型

在NaSh模型的基础上,考虑交通事故和养护路段等意外事件对高速公路交通流的影响,建立了有意外事件影响的在车道管制下的高速公路交通流元胞自动机模型,并进行数值模拟. 研究发现:意外事件对高速公路交通流有明显影响,并且意外事件对交通流的影响在某一密度值范围内尤其明显,且意外事件堵塞点在第一车道比在第二车道对交通流的影响小;同时,在该密度值范围内,意外事件堵塞时间和堵塞路段长度越长,对交通流的影响就越大. 关键词： 元胞自动机 交通流 意外事件     

交通灯控制下主干道的交通流研究

用元胞自动机模型模拟二维交通流.通过交叉口设置的红绿灯，研究交通激波的形成和传播 ；对于一定的红绿灯周期，交通流量出现多个极值现象；在交叉口间隔相同的情况下，对于 一定的红绿灯周期，在一定的车辆密度范围内，交通流量是一个与密度无关的常量；在车辆 密度较高的情况下，交叉口间距大于某一值后，交通流量保持恒定值. 关键词： 元胞自动机模型 交通流 交通激波     

Intelligent driving in traffic systems with partial lane discipline

It is a most common notion in traffic theory that driving in lanes and keeping lane changes to a minimum leads to smooth and laminar traffic flow, and hence to increased traffic capacity. On the other hand, there exist persistent vehicular traffic systems that are characterised by habitual disregarding of lane markings, and partial or complete loss of laminar traffic flow. Here, we explore the stability of such systems through a microscopic traffic flow model, where the degree of lane-discipline is taken as a variable, represented by the fraction of drivers that disregard lane markings completely. The results show that lane-free traffic may win over completely ordered traffic at high densities, and that partially ordered traffic leads to the poorest overall flow, while not considering the crash probability. Partial order in a lane-free system is similar to partial disorder in a lane-disciplined system in that both lead to decreased traffic capacity. This could explain the reason why standard enforcement methods, which rely on continuous increase of order, often fail to incur order to lane-free traffic systems. The results also provide an insight into the cooperative phenomena in open systems with self-driven particles.