An extended master-equation approach applied to aggregation in freeway traffic

We restudy the master-equation approach applied to aggregation in a one-dimensional freeway, where the decay transition probabilities for the jump processes are reconstructed based on a car-following model. According to the reconstructed transition probabilities, the clustering behaviours and the stochastic properties of the master equation in a one-lane freeway traffic model are investigated in detail The numerical results show that the size of the clusters initially below the critical size of the unstable cluster and initially above that of the unstable cluster all enter the same stable state, which also accords with the nucleation theory and is known from the result in earlier work. Moreover, we have obtained more reasonable parameters of the master equation based on some results of cellular automata models.     

Statistical analysis of aggregation in freeway traffic

We restudy the master-equation approach to aggregation in freeway traffic based on the theory of birth--death process, in which the clustering behaviour in one-lane freeway traffic model is investigated. The transition probabilities for the jump processes are reconstructed by using Greenshields' model, and the equation of the mean size of the cluster at any time t is derived from the birth--death equation. Numerical experiments show the clustering behaviours varying with time very well.