Phase transition of traffic congestion in lattice hydrodynamic model: Modeling, calibration and validation

In actual transportation systems, the response time of drivers to the stimulus from the preceding vehicle varies at different speeds. The traditional car-following model cannot capture the heterogeneity of drivers for the response time is regarded as a constant. This paper designed a sigmoid function to describe the relation between the response time of drivers and the current speed. Then, a new hydrodynamic lattice model is developed by introducing the proposed nonlinear function. The model is analyzed by using Fourier series, and the linear stability criterion is derived. Numerical experiments are conducted in a ring road. Simulation results show that the evolution of density waves occurring in actual traffic is reproduced well. Finally, the model is calibrated and verified with the real data, and the simulation results are quantitatively consistent with the detector data.

Automated summary

A new hydrodynamic lattice model is developed in this study by introducing a sigmoid function to describe the relation between drivers' response time and current speed. Numerical experiments and real data verification show that the model accurately reproduces the density wave evolution in actual traffic.