A traffic model is a mathematical model of real-world traffic, usually, but not restricted to, road traffic. Traffic modeling draws heavily on theoretical foundations like network theory and certain theories from physics like the kinematic wave model. The interesting quantity being modeled and measured is the traffic flow, i.e. the throughput of mobile units (e.g. vehicles) per time and transportation medium capacity (e.g. road or lane width). Models can teach researchers and engineers how to ensure an optimal flow with a minimum number of traffic jams.
Traffic models often are the basis of a traffic simulation.
Types
Microscopic traffic flow model Traffic flow is assumed to depend on individual mobile units, i.e. cars, which are explicitly modeled Macroscopic traffic flow model Only the mass action or the statistical properties of a large number of units is analyzedExamples
- Biham–Middleton–Levine traffic model
- Traffic generation model
- History of network traffic models
- Traffic mix
- Intelligent driver model
- Network traffic
- Three-phase traffic theory
- Two-fluid model
See also
- Braess's paradox
- Gridlock
- Mobility model
- Network traffic
- Traffic bottleneck
- Traffic flow
- Traffic wave
- Queueing theory
External links
- http://math.mit.edu/projects/traffic/
- Takashi Nagatani (2002). "The physics of traffic jams". Rep. Prog. Phys. 65 (9). INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS PUBLISHING: 1331–1386. Bibcode:2002RPPh...65.1331N. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.205.6595. doi:10.1088/0034-4885/65/9/203.
- "The Physics of Gridlock". The Atlantic. December 2000.
References
Mahmud, Khizir; Town, Graham E. (June 2016). "A review of computer tools for modeling electric vehicle energy requirements and their impact on power distribution networks". Applied Energy. 172: 337–359. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.03.100. /wiki/Doi_(identifier) ↩