Congestion transition on random walks on graphs

TL;DR

This paper models congestion formation in urban networks using a random walk framework on graphs, revealing universal properties and the role of fluctuations as precursors to congestion.

Contribution

It introduces an analytical approach to characterize traffic load distribution and congestion emergence using a maximum entropy principle and compares it with numerical simulations.

Findings

Congestion emerges as a percolation-like transition with increasing load.

Synchronous dynamics induce correlations that cluster empty and congested nodes.

Traffic load fluctuations can serve as early indicators of congestion.

Abstract

The congestion formation on a urban road network is one of the key issue for the development of a sustainable mobility in the future smart cities. In this work we propose a reductionist approach studying the stationary states of a simple transport model using of a random process on a graph, where each node represents a location and the weight links give the transition rates to move from one node to another that represent the mobility demand. Each node has a finite transport capacity and a maximum load capacity and we assume that the average. In the approximation of the single step process we are able to analytically characterize the traffic load distribution on the single nodes, using a local Maximum Entropy Principle. Our results explain how the congested nodes emerge when the total traffic load increases in analogous way to a percolation transition where the appearance of a congested node is a independent random event, However, using numerical simulations, we show that in the more realistic case of the synchronous dynamics for the nodes, there are entropic forces that introduce correlation among the node state and favor the clustering of the empty and congested nodes. Our aim is to highlight universal properties of the congestion formation and, in particular, to understand the role traffic load fluctuations as a possible precursor of congestion in a transport network.