Understanding Complex Traffic Dynamics with the Nondimensionalisation Technique

Juan Francisco Sánchez-Pérez (), Santiago Oviedo-Casado, Gonzalo García-Ros, Manuel Conesa and Enrique Castro
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Juan Francisco Sánchez-Pérez: Department of Applied Physics and Naval Technology, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT), 30202 Cartagena, Spain
Santiago Oviedo-Casado: Department of Applied Physics and Naval Technology, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT), 30202 Cartagena, Spain
Gonzalo García-Ros: Department of Mining and Civil Engineering, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT), 30202 Cartagena, Spain
Manuel Conesa: Department of Applied Physics and Naval Technology, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT), 30202 Cartagena, Spain
Enrique Castro: Department of Applied Physics and Naval Technology, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT), 30202 Cartagena, Spain

Mathematics, 2024, vol. 12, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: Hydrodynamic traffic models are crucial to optimizing transportation efficiency and urban planning. They usually comprise a set of coupled partial differential equations featuring an arbitrary number of terms that aim to describe the different nuances of traffic flow. Consequently, traffic models quickly become complicated to solve and difficult to interpret. In this article, we present a general traffic model that includes a relaxation term and an inflow of vehicles term and utilize the mathematical technique of nondimensionalisation to obtain universal solutions to the model. Thus, we are able to show extreme sensitivity to initial conditions and parameter changes, a classical signature of deterministic chaos. Moreover, we obtain simple relations among the different variables governing traffic, thus managing to efficiently describe the onset of traffic jams. We validate our model by comparing different scenarios and highlighting the model’s applicability regimes in traffic equations. We show that extreme speed values, or heavy traffic inflow, lead to divergences in the model, showing its limitations but also demonstrating how the problem of traffic jams can be alleviated. Our results pave the way to simulating and predicting traffic accurately on a real-time basis.

Keywords: traffic dynamics; nondimensionalisation; mathematical modelling; differential equations; traffic jams; sensitivity; engineering science; numerical simulations; urban planning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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