On the Variational Theory of Traffic Flow: Well-Posedness, Duality and Applications

This paper describes some simplifications allowed by the variational theory of traffic flow (VT). It presents general conditions guaranteeing that the solution of a VT problem with bottlenecks exists, is unique and makes physical sense i.e., that the problem is well-posed. The requirements for well-posedness are mild and met by practical applications. They are consistent with narrower results available for kinematic wave or Hamilton-Jacobi theories. The paper also describes some duality ideas relevant to all these theories. Duality and VT are used to establish the equivalence of eight traffic models. Most of these are not new but VT-duality considerations offer a new insight into their relationship.

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  • Supplemental Notes:
    • Presented as "Traffic Networks: Basic Components, Linkages, and Macroscopic Effects" at the 1st International Conference on Networks and Heterogeneous Media, Maori, Italy, June 2006
  • Corporate Authors:

    University of California, Berkeley

    Berkeley, CA  United States  94720-1720

    University of California, Berkeley

    Center for Future Urban Transport, McLaughlin Hall
    Berkeley, CA  United States  94720-1720
  • Authors:
    • Daganzo, Carlos F
  • Publication Date: 2006-6

Language

  • English

Media Info

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Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01037534
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: UC Berkeley Transportation Library
  • Report/Paper Numbers: UCB-ITS-VWP-2006-2
  • Files: CALTRANS, TRIS, ATRI
  • Created Date: Nov 28 2006 11:32AM