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Refined macroscopic traffic modelling via systems of conservation laws

We elaborate upon the Herty-Illner macroscopic traffic models which include special non-local forces. The first chapter presents these in relation to the traffic models of Aw-Rascle and Zhang, arguing that non-local forces are necessary for a realistic description of traffic.
The second chapter considers travelling wave solutions for the Herty-Illner macroscopic models. The travelling wave ansatz for the braking scenario reveals a curiously implicit nonlinear functional differential equation, the jam equation, whose unknown is, at least to conventional tools, inextricably self-argumentative! Observing that analytic solution methods fail for the jam equation yet succeed for equations with similar coefficients raises a challenging problem of pure and applied mathematical interest. An unjam equation analogous to the jam equation explored by Illner and McGregor is derived.
The third chapter outlines refinements for the Herty-Illner models. Numerics allow exploration of the refined model dynamics in a variety of realistic traffic situations, leading to a discussion of the broadened applicability conferred by the refinements: ultimately the prediction of stop-and-go waves.
The conclusion asserts that all of the above contribute knowledge pertinent to traffic control for reduced congestion and ameliorated vehicular flow. / Graduate

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:uvic.ca/oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/4304
Date24 October 2012
CreatorsRichardson, Ashlin D.
ContributorsIllner, Reinhard
Source SetsUniversity of Victoria
LanguageEnglish, English
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
RightsAvailable to the World Wide Web

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