MATHEMATICAL MODELS FOR FREELY-FLOWING HIGHWAY TRAFFIC

AN ATTEMPT IS MADE TO CONSTRUCT MODELS FOR THE MOTION OF CARS ON A HIGHWAY IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO THE WAY ONE TREATS THE MOTION OF MOLECULES IN A GAS AS DESCRIBED BY THE KINETIC THEORY OF GASES. IN PARTICULAR THE COMPARISON IS MADE BETWEEN A TRAFFIC FLOW AT VERY LOW VOLUMES AND THE MOTION IN A RARIFIED GAS. FROM THIS, IT IS EXPECTED THAT EVEN A VERY CRUDE MODEL OF THE INTERACTION BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL CARS WILL GIVE A QUITE REASONABLE DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR OF LARGE GROUPS OF CARS. SOME SIMPLE ESTIMATES OF THE DEPENDENCE OF AVERAGE VELOCITY ON DENSITY AND DISTRIBUTION OF CARS IN VARIOUS LANES OF A MULTILANE HIGHWAY BASED ON VERY CRUDE MODELS SEEM TO CONFIRM THIS EXPECTATION. /AUTHOR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 3, No 2, PP 176-186, 1 FIG, 5 REF
• Authors:
  • Newell, G F
• Publication Date: 0

Media Info

• Serial:
  • OPERATIONS RESEARCH
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: NEWELL, GORDON F.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobiles; Gases; Kinetics; Mathematical models; Molecules; Motion; Multilane highways; Traffic density; Traffic flow; Traffic volume; Velocity
• Old TRIS Terms: Groupings
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00227115
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 13 2004 6:56PM