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The physics of empirical nuclei for spontaneous traffic breakdown in free flow at highway bottlenecks

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  • Kerner, Boris S.
  • Koller, Micha
  • Klenov, Sergey L.
  • Rehborn, Hubert
  • Leibel, Michael

Abstract

Based on an empirical study of real field traffic data measured in 1996–2014 through road detectors installed on German freeways, we reveal physical features of empirical nuclei for spontaneous traffic breakdown in free flow at highway bottlenecks. A microscopic stochastic three-phase traffic model of the nucleation of spontaneous traffic breakdown presented in the article explains the empirical findings. It turns out that in the most cases a nucleus for the breakdown occurs through an interaction of one of waves in free flow with an empirical permanent speed disturbance localized at a highway bottleneck. The wave is a localized structure in free flow, in which the total flow rate is larger and the speed averaged across the highway is smaller than outside the wave. The waves in free flow appear due to oscillations in the percentage of slow vehicles; these waves propagate with the average speed of slow vehicles in free flow. Any of the empirical waves exhibits a two-dimensional asymmetric spatiotemporal structure: Wave’s characteristics are different in different highway lanes.

Suggested Citation

  • Kerner, Boris S. & Koller, Micha & Klenov, Sergey L. & Rehborn, Hubert & Leibel, Michael, 2015. "The physics of empirical nuclei for spontaneous traffic breakdown in free flow at highway bottlenecks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 438(C), pages 365-397.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:438:y:2015:i:c:p:365-397
    DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2015.05.102
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Daganzo, Carlos & Laval, Jorge A., 2003. "On the Numerical Treatment of Moving Bottlenecks," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt69r4t5pp, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    2. Lily Elefteriadou, 2014. "An Introduction to Traffic Flow Theory," Springer Optimization and Its Applications, Springer, edition 127, number 978-1-4614-8435-6, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Junwei Zeng & Yongsheng Qian & Fan Yin & Leipeng Zhu & Dejie Xu, 2022. "A multi-value cellular automata model for multi-lane traffic flow under lagrange coordinate," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 178-192, June.
    2. Hu, Xiaojian & Lin, Chenxi & Hao, Xiatong & Lu, RuiYing & Liu, TengHui, 2021. "Influence of tidal lane on traffic breakdown and spatiotemporal congested patterns at moving bottleneck in the framework of Kerner’s three-phase traffic theory," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 584(C).
    3. Hongsheng Qi & Meiqi Liu & Lihui Zhang & Dianhai Wang, 2016. "Tracing Road Network Bottleneck by Data Driven Approach," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(5), pages 1-16, May.

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