Traffic flow merging – Statistical and numerical modeling of microstructure

•We analyze vehicular data samples measured during reconstruction works on Czech freeways.•We demonstrate that time headways detected outside and inside a merging region are GIG-distributed.•Detailed analysis of stochastic resistivity is presented.•Original thermal-like merging model is introduced,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of computational science 2019-03, Vol.32, p.99-105
Main Authors: Krbálek, Milan, Apeltauer, Jiří, Šeba, František
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Headway distribution
Merging
Stochastic resistivity
Vehicular traffic
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Summary:•We analyze vehicular data samples measured during reconstruction works on Czech freeways.•We demonstrate that time headways detected outside and inside a merging region are GIG-distributed.•Detailed analysis of stochastic resistivity is presented.•Original thermal-like merging model is introduced, numerically represented and statistically verified.•Correspondence between numerical outputs and empirical measurements is presented. We present a detailed stochastic analysis of vehicle-by-vehicle data measured in the vicinity of a region where two traffic streams merge into one. We focus on statistical distributions of time headways as well as on their changes induced by a merging process. Accepting a well-proven hypothesis on GIG-distributed vehicular headways we propose, test and verify a thermodynamic particle-like traffic model with an implicit gap-acceptance rule controlling a process of merging. We show how a synchronization of merging streams affects a level of synchronization among vehicles within the merging region.
ISSN:1877-7503
1877-7511
DOI:10.1016/j.jocs.2018.09.002