A dynamical systems approach based on averaging to model the macroscopic flow of freeway traffic

The flow of traffic exhibits distinct characteristics under different conditions, reflecting the congestion during peak hours and relatively free motion during off-peak hours. This requires one to use different mathematical equations to describe the diverse traffic characteristics. Thus, the flow of traffic is best described by a hybrid system, namely different governing equations for the different regimes of response, and it is such a hybrid approach that is investigated in this paper. Existing models for the flow of traffic treat traffic as a continuum or employ techniques similar to those used in the kinetic theory of gases, neither of these approaches gainfully exploit the hybrid nature of the problem. Spurious two-way propagation of disturbances that are physically unacceptable are predicted by continuum models for the flow of traffic. The number of vehicles in a typical section of the highway does not justify its being modeled as a continuum. It is also important to recognize that the basic premises of kinetic theory are not appropriate for the flow of traffic (see [S. Darbha, K.R. Rajagopal, Limit of a collection of dynamical systems: an application to modeling the flow of traffic, Mathematical Models and Methods in Applied Sciences 12 (10) (2002) 1381–1399] for a rationale for the same). A model for the flow of traffic that does not treat traffic as a continuum or use notions from kinetic theory is developed here and corroborated with real-time data collected on US 183 in Austin, Texas. Predictions based on the hybrid system model seem to agree reasonably well with the data collected on US 183.     

Analysis of traffic flow by the finite element method

A finite elernent methodology is developed for the numerical solution of traffic flow problems encountered in arterial streets. The simple continuum traffic flow model consisting of the equation of continuity and an equilibrium flow-density relationship is adopted. A Galerkin type finite element method is used to formulate the problem in discrete form and the solution is obtained by a step-by-step time integration in conjunction with the Newton-Raphson method. The proposed finite element methodology, which is of the shock capturing type, is applied to flow traffic problems. Two numerical examples illustrate the method and demonstrate its advantages over other analytical or numerical techniques.     

Modeling the asymmetry in traffic flow (a): Microscopic approach

The asymmetric characteristic of a vehicle’s ability in deceleration and acceleration, as well as its impact to micro- and macroscopic traffic flow has caused increased attention from both theoretical and practical sides. However, how to realistically model this property remains a challenge to researchers. This paper is one of the two studies on this topic, which is focused on the modeling at the microscopic level from the investigation of car-following behavior. The second part of the study [H. Liu, H. Xu, H. Gong, Modeling the asymmetry in traffic flow (b): macroscopic approach, Appl. Math. Model. (submitted for publication)] is focused on the modeling of this asymmetric property from the macroscopic scale. In this paper, we first present an asymmetric full velocity difference car-following approach, in which a higher order differential equation is developed to take into account the effect of asymmetric acceleration and deceleration in car-following. Then, efforts are dedicated to calibrate the sensitivity coefficients from field data to complete the theoretical approach. Using the data recorded from the main lane traffic and ramp traffic of a segment of the US101 freeway, the two sensitivity coefficients have been successfully calibrated from both congested and light traffic environments. The experimental study reveals that in the studied traffic flow, the intensity of positive velocity difference term is significantly higher than the negative velocity difference term, which agrees well with the results from studies on vehicle mechanics.     

A new lattice model of traffic flow with the consideration of individual difference of anticipation driving behavior

In this paper, we propose a new lattice model of traffic flow with the consideration of individual difference of anticipation driving behavior. The linear stability condition and the mKdV equation are derived from linear stability analysis and nonlinear analysis, respectively. Furthermore, numerical simulation shows that the anticipation driving behavior can increase the cell number of low density, which means that more cars can run freely and traffic congestion can be suppressed efficiently by taking the anticipation driving behavior into account in lattice model. Moreover, with the coefficient of the anticipation driving behavior increasing, the low density region turns wide corresponding to individual difference of anticipation driving behavior.     

A hybrid macroscopic-based model for traffic flow in road networks

Recently, the unquestionable growth of interest to increase the operational efficiency and capability of transportation systems led to the development of a large number of traffic modeling theories. One of the major operational issues when developing a transportation system management model lies in the selection of the appropriate methodological approach with respect to several decisions, such as the selection of the type of input and output data as well as the qualitative representation and the computational power of the model. Despite the considerable effort in the area, there is still not an approach which per se models effectively the various dynamically evolving features of traffic in road networks. The present paper addresses this issue by introducing a new hybrid approach which combines the complementary features and capabilities of both continuum mathematical models e.g. 1, 6, 23 and 26 and knowledge-based models e.g. 7, 22 and 28 in order to describe effectively traffic flow in road networks.     

Modeling the asymmetry in traffic flow (b): Macroscopic approach

In [H. Xu, H. Liu, H. Gong, Modeling the asymmetry in traffic flow (a): microscopic approach, J. Appl. Math. Model. (submitted for publication)], the asymmetric characteristic of traffic flow has been studied from a microscopic approach through the modeling of car-following behavior. This paper further discusses the asymmetric traffic flow modeling at the macroscopic scale. The microscopic asymmetric full velocity difference model is extended to a continuum traffic flow model to study the anisotropic characteristic and diffusive influence under various traffic conditions. In order to accurately solve the mathematical problem, a weighted essentially no-oscillatory (WENO) approach is applied. The performance of the model is then demonstrated through thorough evaluation against select classic models and field data. The macroscopic model is the first of its kind that is directly developed from an asymmetric car-following approach. The results show that the model is able to present many complex traffic phenomena observed in the field such as shock waves, rarefaction waves, stop-and-go waves and local cluster effects at a better level of accuracy than most of the existing models.     

An efficient algorithm for computing traffic equilibria using TRANSYT model

Computing traffic equilibria with signal settings using TRANSYT model for an area traffic control road system is considered in this paper. Following Wardrop’s first principle, this problem can be formulated as a variational inequality problem. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm to efficiently solve this equilibrium traffic assignment with global convergence. Numerical calculations are conducted on a grid-size road network. As it shows, the proposed method achieved greater savings in computational overheads than did those conventional methods for solving traffic equilibria when signal settings are particularly taken into account.     

On the derivation of the velocity and fundamental traffic flow diagram from the modelling of the vehicle–driver behaviors

This paper deals with derivation of the fundamental diagram by modelling the individual driver behavior that adjusts the velocity to the density of vehicles in order to respect the braking distance. A parameter is properly introduced to model the quality of the driver–vehicle subsystem referred to the environmental conditions. Subsequently, it is shown how to use this result in order to model traffic flows by the macroscopic representation and by the kinetic theory.     

Optimization models for assessing the peak capacity utilization of intelligent transportation systems

With limited economic and physical resources, it is not feasible to continually expand transportation infrastructure to adequately support the rapid growth in its usage. This is especially true for traffic coordination systems where the expansion of road infrastructure has not been able to keep pace with the increasing number of vehicles, thereby resulting in congestion and delays. Hence, in addition to striving for the construction of new roads, it is imperative to develop new intelligent transportation management and coordination systems. The effectiveness of a new technique can be evaluated by comparing it with the optimal capacity utilization. If this comparison indicates that substantial improvements are possible, then the cost of developing and deploying an intelligent traffic system can be justified. Moreover, developing an optimization model can also help in capacity planning. For instance, at a given level of demand, if the optimal solution worsens significantly, this implies that no amount of intelligent strategies can handle this demand, and expanding the infrastructure would be the only alternative. In this paper, we demonstrate these concepts through a case study of scheduling vehicles on a grid of intersecting roads. We develop two optimization models namely, the mixed integer programming model and the space-time network flow model, and show that the latter model is substantially more effective. Moreover, we prove that the problem is strongly NP-hard and develop two polynomial-time heuristics. The heuristic solutions are then compared with the optimal capacity utilization obtained using the space-time network model. We also present important managerial implications.     

On air traffic flow management with rerouting. Part I: Deterministic case

In this paper a deterministic mixed 0-1 model for the air traffic flow management problem is presented. The model allows for flight cancelation and rerouting, if necessary. It considers several types of objective functions to minimize, namely, the number of flights exceeding a given time delay (that can be zero), separable and non-separable ground holding and air delay costs, penalization of alternative routes to the scheduled one for each flight, time unit delay cost to arrive to the nodes (i.e., air sectors and airports) and penalization for advancing arrival to the nodes over the schedule. The arrival and departure capacity at the airports is obviously considered, as well as the capacity of the different sectors in the airspace, being allowed to vary along the time horizon. So, the model is aimed to help for better decision-making regarding the ground holding and air delays imposed on flights in an air network, on a short term policy for a given time horizon. It is so strong that there is no additional cut appending, nor does it require the execution of the branch-and-bound phase to obtain the optimal solution for the problem in many cases of the testbeds with which we have experimented. In the other cases, the help of the cut identifying and heuristic schemes of the state-of-the art optimization engine of choice is required in order to obtain the solution of the problem, and the branch-and-bound phase is not required either. An extensive computational experience is reported for large-scale instances, some of which have been taken from the literature and some others were coming from industry.     

A path-based double projection method for solving the asymmetric traffic network equilibrium problem

In this paper we propose a new iterative method for solving the asymmetric traffic equilibrium problem when formulated as a variational inequality whose variables are the path flows. The path formulation leads to a decomposable structure of the constraints set and allows us to obtain highly accurate solutions. The proposed method is a column generation scheme based on a variant of the Khobotov’s extragradient method for solving variational inequalities. Computational experiments have been carried out on several networks of a medium-large scale. The results obtained are promising and show the applicability of the method for solving large-scale equilibrium problems. This work has been supported by the National Research Program FIRB/RBNE01WBBBB on Large Scale Nonlinear Optimization.     

On air traffic flow management with rerouting. Part II: Stochastic case

We present a framework for modeling multistage mixed 0-1 problems for the air traffic flow management problem with rerouting (ATFMRP) under uncertainty in the airport arrival and departure capacity, the air sector capacity and the flight demand. The model allows for flight cancelation, if necessary. It considers several types of objective functions to minimize, namely, total ground and air holding cost, penalization of the alternative routes to the scheduled one for each flight, delay cost for the flights to arrive to the airports and the air sector nodes, and penalization for advancing the arrival of the flights to the airport over the scheduled period. A scenario tree based scheme is used to represent the Deterministic Equivalent Model (DEM) of the stochastic mixed 0-1 program with full recourse. The nonanticipativity constraints that equate the so named common 0-1 and continuous variables from the same group of scenarios in each period are implicitly satisfied in the compact representation of DEM. Some computational experience is reported for medium-scale instances. The model is so tight that none of the instances of the testbed but two of them requires to execute the branch-and-cut phase of the MIP optimization engine of choice.     

Numerical algorithms for simulations of a traffic model on road networks

We introduce a simulation algorithm based on a fluid-dynamic model for traffic flows on road networks, which are considered as graphs composed by arcs that meet at some junctions. The approximation of scalar conservation laws along arcs is made by three velocities Kinetic schemes with suitable boundary conditions at junctions. Here we describe the algorithm and we give an example.     

Study on intelligent monitoring methodology based on the mathematical model of heat transfer for blast furnace stave

In order to monitor the thermal status of a blast furnace stave, an intelligent simulation technique is developed. The intelligent simulation model is built using a combined model based on the mathematical model of heat transfer and the technique of artificial intelligence. The intelligent simulation model of blast furnace cast steel stave is based on correction factor of parameters obtained by training the samples of test data of the cast steel cooling stave. Simulating currently existing blast furnace stave situation which is only a monitoring point on the stave and the velocity and temperature of cooling water are difficult to real-time be detected, the experimental verification of the model is done. The results show that the data of intelligent simulation model is nearly consistent with that of experiment. The model of high accuracy can on-line predict the thermal status of blast furnace stave.     

On the plane problem of the flow around a submerged beam

We consider the problem of the steady flow of an ideal heavy fluid around a submerged beam. The problem is obtained from the free-boundary problem of the flow past a submerged obstacle in the limit of bodies of vanishing thickness. We introduce a special Sobolev space formulation of the problem in term of a perturbed stream function and prove its unique solvability for every value of the unperturbed flow velocity, with the possible exception of a discrete set depending on the geometry of the domain. The asymptotic properties of the solutions are discussed.     

Analytical solution of magnetohydrodynamic stagnation-point flow of a power-law fluid towards a stretching surface

A new kind of analytic technique, namely the homotopy analysis method (HAM), is employed to give an explicit analytical solution of the steady two-dimensional stagnation-point flow of an electrically conducting power-law fluid over a stretching surface when the surface is stretched in its own plane with a velocity proportional to the distance from the stagnation-point. A uniform transverse magnetic field is applied normal to the surface. An explicit analytical solution is given by recursive formulae for the first-order power-law (Newtonian) fluid when the ratio of free stream velocity and stretching velocity is not equal to unity. For second and real order power-law fluids, an analytical approach is proposed for magnetic field parameter in a quite large range. All of our analytical results agree well with numerical results. The results obtained by HAM suggest that the solution of the problem under consideration converges.     

A note on the minimum instantaneous cost path of the dynamic traffic assignment problem

We consider an example to show that the minimum instantaneous cost path principle, as suggested in Friesz et al. [1] for generalising Wardrop's first principle to the dynamic state, may cause some drivers' routes to loop. These looping routes traverse the same link more than once - indeed, in our example six times.The work reported in this paper has been partly funded by the Science and Engineering Research Council of the United Kingdom.     

Using graph concepts to assess the feasibility of a sequenced air traffic flow with low conflict rate

In this paper, we propose to study feasibility issues of a new air traffic paradigm. In this paradigm, aircraft are following immaterial moving points in such a way that no conflict (or at most few) occurs between aircraft. We provide lower and upper bounds on the maximum density of a solution. In particular, we characterize the density of the solution according to the colorability of an auxiliary graph, modelling the potential conflicts between moving points.     

突发交通事件非参数诊断的变点统计方法研究

针对智能运输系统(ITS)项目特别是先进的出行信息系统的开发，建立了突发交通事件非线性非参数诊断的变点统计方法。依据交通流理论，结合均值变点模型，对变点搜索的最小二乘法和局部比较法进行了研究。利用在英国南安普敦市检获的实际数据对上述两种算法进行了标定，并对模型进行实际应用。结果显示上述方法对突发事件检测具有很高的灵敏度和有效性。