Lattice hydrodynamic model with bidirectional pedestrian flow

The two-dimensional lattice hydrodynamic model of traffic is extended to the two-dimensional bidirectional pedestrian flow via taking four types of pedestrians into account. The stability condition and the mKdV equation to describe the density wave of pedestrian congestion are obtained by linear stability and nonlinear analysis, respectively. In addition, there exist three phase transitions among the freely moving phase, the coexisting phase and the uniformly congested phase in the phase diagram. It can also be found that the critical point a_c refers to not only the fraction c₁ of the eastbound and westbound pedestrians, but also the fraction c₂ of the northbound and southbound pedestrians. However, the critical point a_c could not appear in the phase diagram and congested crowd at any time when two fractions are equal to same value of 0.5 (c₁=c₂=0.5). Furthermore, numerical simulation is carried out to examine the performance of such a model and the results show coincidence with the theory analysis results.     

Evacuation from a classroom considering the occupant density around exits

An existing cellular automaton evacuation model is modified to simulate an evacuation experiment conducted in a classroom with obstacles. In the modified model, the impact of the occupant density around exits on human behavior in evacuation is considered. The simulation and experimental results prove that this improvement makes sense, because besides the spatial distance to exits, people may also choose the exit according to the occupant density around exits. The distribution of individual evacuation times as a function of initial positions and the dynamics of the evacuation process are studied. Comparison between the experimental and simulation results shows that the model can reproduce the experiment well. The improvement of the CA model is useful for further study.     

Freezing transition in bi-directional CA model for facing pedestrian traffic

We present a bi-directional cellular automaton (CA) model for facing traffic of pedestrians on a wide passage. The excluded-volume effect and bi-directionality of facing traffic are taken into account. The CA model is not stochastic but deterministic. We study the jamming and freezing transitions when pedestrian density increases. We show that the dynamical phase transitions occur at three stages with increasing density. There exist four traffic states: the free traffic, jammed traffic 1, jammed traffic 2, and frozen state. At the frozen state, all pedestrians stop by preventing from going ahead each other. At three transitions, the pedestrian flow changes from the free traffic through the jammed traffic 1 and jammed traffic 2, to the frozen state.     

Freezing transition in the mean-field approximation model of pedestrian counter flow

We study the freezing transition in the counter flow of pedestrians within the channel numerically and analytically. We present the mean-field approximation (MFA) model for the pedestrian counter flow. The model is described in terms of a couple of nonlinear difference equations. The excluded-volume effect and bi-directionality are taken into account. The fundamental diagrams (current-density diagrams) are derived. When pedestrian density is higher than a critical value, the dynamical phase transition occurs from the free flow to the freezing (stopping) state. The critical density is derived by using the linear stability analysis. Also, the velocity and current (flow) at the steady state are derived analytically. The analytical result is consistent with that obtained by the numerical simulation.     

Taxonomy of correlations of wind velocity — an application to the Sicilian area

We present an algorithm that allows us to analyze the cross-correlation of wind velocity measured in different locations; this algorithm is applied to 29 recording stations in Sicily. The results show that such correlations present a significant and persistent ultrametric structure that is influenced by the geographical neighborhood as well as by the presence of mountain and the sea. The algorithm presented, that is also able to reveal weak correlations, can be used as a starting point for the development of multivariate models of wind.     

Discretization effect in a multi-grid egress model

In the traditional egress model based on cellular automata, building spaces are divided into discrete grids, the size of which is usually as large as that of a pedestrian. In order to explore the influences of the grid size on the evacuation results, we studied the evacuation process using a multi-grid egress model. In the multi-grid model, a finer grid is used and each pedestrian occupies n×n basic grids. It is found that if the pedestrian always moves one grid at each time step, the evacuation time increases with the decrease of the grid size, and reaches a stable, grid-independent value when the grid size is small enough. Another factor which influences the evacuation results is the length of the time step. It is found that with the increasing length of the time step, the evacuation time has a tendency to increase but endures complex changes. The differences between the single-grid model and multi-grid model may be due to two main reasons. First, in the multi-grid model, the pedestrians are out of alignment so that there are patches of unusable empty spaces as they are smaller in size than a pedestrian. Second, in the multi-grid model, pedestrians tend to reach the exit at the same time, leading to more serious conflicts among pedestrians.     

Effect of gravitational force upon traffic flow with gradients

We study the effect of gravitational force upon traffic flow on a highway with sag, uphill, and downhill. We extend the optimal velocity model to take into account the gravitational force which acts on vehicles as an external force. We study the traffic states and jamming transitions induced by the slope of highway. We derive the fundamental diagrams (flow-density diagrams) for the traffic flow on the sag, the uphill, and downhill by using the extended optimal velocity model. We clarify where and when traffic jams occur on a highway with gradients. We show the relationship between densities before and after the jam. We derive the dependence of the fundamental diagram on the slope of gradients.     

Traffic flow on a toll highway with electronic and traditional tollgates

We study the traffic states and jams occurring in traffic flow on a two-lane toll highway with electronic and manual (traditional) tollgates. The electronic and manual collection vehicles sort themselves into their respective lanes at low density, while they mix at each tollgate at high density. We derive the fundamental diagrams (flow-density diagrams) for the electronic and manual collection vehicles. The traffic states change with increasing density and varying the ratio. Dynamical phase transitions occur. It is shown that the fundamental diagrams for the two tollgates depend greatly on the density and fraction of both vehicles.     

Transition from homogeneous to inhomogeneous flows in a lattice-gas binary mixture of slender particles

We study the unidirectional flow of a binary mixture of biased-random walkers on a square lattice under a periodic boundary. The lattice-gas mixture consists of two types of slender particles (walkers) which have different biases (drift coefficients). When the density is higher than a critical value, a dynamical transition occurs from the homogeneous flow to the inhomogeneous flow and clogging appears. The inhomogeneous state returns to the homogeneous congested flow with further increasing density. The clogging does not appear in the unidirectional flow of the conventional lattice-gas binary mixture of single-site particles. The jamming (clogging) transition is clarified for various sizes of slender particles.     

Traffic states induced by slowdown sections on two-lane highway

We study the traffic states and jams occurring on a two-lane highway with a few slowdown sections. We derive the fundamental diagrams (flow-density diagrams). The fundamental diagrams on first and second lanes depend highly on the configuration of slowdown sections. The occupancy fraction of vehicles on first and second lanes varies with configuration of slowdown sections and also changes with density for the definite configuration. When a jam is formed on a lane, the flow (current) saturates on the lane. The saturated flow is given by the maximal value of the current of the slowdown section. The relationship between the densities before and after the jam is derived analytically. The dependence of jam lengths on density is derived numerically and analytically.     

Fundamental diagram in traffic flow of mixed vehicles on multi-lane highway

We study the fundamental diagram for traffic flow of vehicular mixture on a multi-lane highway. We present the car-following model of multi-lane traffic in which slow and fast vehicles flow with changing lanes. We investigate the traffic states of the vehicular mixture under the periodic boundary. Two values of the current appear at a density and two current curves are obtained. Vehicles move with changing lanes in the traffic state of high current, while vehicles move without changing lanes in the traffic state of low current. They depend on the density, the fraction of slow vehicles, and the initial condition. In the high-current curve, the jamming transition between the free flow and the jammed state occurs at a low density. The fundamental diagrams (current-density diagrams) are shown for the single-lane, two-lane, three-lane, and four-lane traffics.     

Effect of irregularity on vehicular traffic through a sequence of traffic lights

We present the stochastic nonlinear-map model of vehicular traffic controlled by irregular signals. The signal’s interval, the split of signal, and the offset time changes irregularly from signal to signal on a roadway. We study the effect of irregularity on dynamical behavior of vehicular traffic through a sequence of traffic lights. The vehicle exhibits the very complex behavior with varying cycle time. When the strength of irregularity is small, the arrival time does not change with irregularity for some values of cycle time, while it changes for other values of cycle time. The region in which the arrival time changes is expanding with increasing irregularity’s strength. The region map (phase diagram) is shown in the cycle time-irregularity’s strength space.     

Vehicular motion through a sequence of traffic lights controlled by logistic map

We study the dynamical behavior of a single vehicle through the sequence of traffic lights controlled by the logistic map. The phase shift of traffic lights is determined by the logistic map and varies from signal to signal. The nonlinear dynamic model of the vehicular motion is presented by the nonlinear map including the logistic map. The vehicle exhibits the very complex behavior with varying both cycle time and logistic-map parameter a. For a>3, the dependence of arrival time on the cycle time becomes smoother and smoother with increasing a. The dependence of vehicular motion on parameter a is clarified.     

Dynamics and schedule of shuttle bus controlled by traffic signal

We study the dynamical behavior of a shuttle bus moving through a traffic signal. The dynamics of the bus is expressed in terms of the nonlinear maps. The bus dynamics is controlled by varying the loading parameter, the cycle time of signal, and the degree of speedup. We show the dependence of the tour time on both loading parameter and cycle time. The fluctuation of boarding passengers is highly reduced by varying the cycle time. When the bus speeds up to retrieve the delay induced by loading the passengers, the bus behavior also changes highly. The shuttle bus schedule is connected with the complex motion of the shuttle bus. The region map (phase diagram) is shown to control the complex motion of the bus.     

Traffic states and fundamental diagram in cellular automaton model of vehicular traffic controlled by signals

We present a cellular automaton (CA) model for vehicular traffic controlled by traffic lights. The CA model is not described by a set of rules, but is given by a simple difference equation. The vehicular motion varies highly with both signals’ characteristics and vehicular density. The dependence of tour time on both cycle time and vehicular density is clarified. In the dilute limit of vehicles, the vehicular motion is compared with that by the nonlinear-map model. The fundamental diagrams are derived numerically. It is shown that the fundamental diagram depends highly on the signals’ characteristics. The traffic states are shown for various values of cycle time in the fundamental diagram. We also study the effect of a slow vehicle on the traffic flow.     

Vehicular motion on a selected path in a 2d traffic network controlled by signals

We study the dynamic behavior of vehicular traffic through a series of traffic lights on selected paths in a two-dimensional (2d) traffic network. The city traffic network is made of one-way perpendicular streets arranged in a square lattice with traffic signals where vertical streets are oriented upwards and horizontal streets are oriented rightwards. A vehicle moves through the series of signals on a path selected by the driver. The selected path is one of the straight, zigzag, and random paths in a 2d traffic network. The vehicular motion on a selected path is presented by the nonlinear-map model. Vehicular traffic exhibits very complex behavior with varying selected paths, cycle times, and vehicular density. The dependence of the arrival time on cycle time, selected path, and density is clarified for 2d city traffic.     

Green-light paths in city traffic controlled by signals

When a vehicle moves through a series of green lights with avoiding red signals in the traffic network, the travel time has a minimal value and the vehicle draws a characteristic trajectory. We study the trajectories (green-light paths) of a vehicle for various values of both cycle time and split at the synchronized and random-phase strategies. The trajectory depends highly on both signal's characteristics and control strategy. We clarify the dependence of green-light paths on both cycle time and split. At the random phase strategy, the vehicle draws a trajectory of the random walk. It is shown where the vehicle arrives if a driver selects the green-light path.     

Simulation of pedestrian flow on square lattice based on cellular automata model

Simulations of two-way and four-way pedestrian flow on the square lattice for small systems will be presented based on cellular automata (CA) in this paper. For the reason that the decision-making process of pedestrians in their movements is complex and intelligent, pedestrian movement is more flexible and adaptive to dynamic conditions than vehicular flow. First, a special technique will be introduced to simplify tactically the process into the interaction of four dynamic parameters, which can reflect the pedestrian judgment on the surrounding conditions and decide the pedestrian's choice of action such as moving ahead, stopping to wait, position exchange, lane switching, back stepping, etc. Second, the simulation method and the relationships of velocity-density and flow-density will be studied and analyzed. It is found that there are phase transitions at the critical density point and at different phases the relationships of velocity-density and flow-density are different from each other. Moreover, the different weight coefficients of four dynamic parameters affect the simulation results of these two models.     

Maximum entropy with fluctuating constraints: The example of K-distributions

We indicate that in a maximum entropy setting, the thermodynamic β and the observation constraint are linked, so that fluctuations of the latter imposes fluctuations of the former. This gives an alternate viewpoint to ‘superstatistics’. While a Gamma model for fluctuations of the β parameter gives the so-called Tsallis distributions, we work out the case of a Gamma model for fluctuations of the observable, and show that this leads to K-distributions. We draw attention to the fact that these heavy-tailed distributions have high interest in physical applications, and we discuss them in some details.     

Exact solutions for a forced Burgers equation with a linear external force

We investigate the solutions of the Burgers equation , where F(x,t) is an external force and Φ(x,t) represents a forcing term. This equation is first analyzed in the absence of the forcing term by taking F(x,t)=k₁(t)−k₂(t)x into account. For this case, the solution obtained extends the usual one present in the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process and depending on the choice of k₁(t) and k₂(t) it can present a stationary state or an anomalous spreading. Afterwards, the forcing terms Φ(x,t)=Φ₁(t)+Φ₂(t)x and Φ(x,t)=Φ₃x−Φ₄/x³ are incorporated in the previous analysis and exact solutions are obtained for both cases.