A characteristic particle method for traffic flow simulations on highway networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces a characteristic particle method for simulating traffic flow on highway networks, accurately capturing traffic jams with minimal computational resources by extending the particleclaw approach to networked roads.

Contribution

The paper develops a novel particle-based simulation method for traffic networks, effectively coupling edge approximations at nodes and improving jam prediction accuracy.

Findings

Accurately models traffic jams with few degrees of freedom.

Successfully extends particleclaw to networked traffic flows.

Demonstrates effectiveness through numerical examples.

Abstract

A characteristic particle method for the simulation of first order macroscopic traffic models on road networks is presented. The approach is based on the method "particleclaw", which solves scalar one dimensional hyperbolic conservations laws exactly, except for a small error right around shocks. The method is generalized to nonlinear network flows, where particle approximations on the edges are suitably coupled together at the network nodes. It is demonstrated in numerical examples that the resulting particle method can approximate traffic jams accurately, while only devoting a few degrees of freedom to each edge of the network.