Microscopic Simulation of Urban Traffic Based on Cellular Automata

Abstract

Saturated capacities in traffic systems evoke increasing interest in simulations of complex networks serving as laboratory environment for developing management strategies. Especially for urban areas questions concerning overall traffic control have to be considered with regard to their impacts on the whole network. Modeling traffic flow dynamics using cellular automata allows us to run large network traffic simulations with only comparatively low computational efforts. We present a traffic simulation tool for urban road networks which is based on the Nagel–Schreckenberg Model. Arbitrary kinds of roads and crossings are modeled as combinations of only a few basic elements. Furthermore parking capacities are considered as well as circulations of public transports. The vehicles are driven corresponding to route plans or at random depending on the available data. The application of this network simulation covers investigations on the field of traffic planning as well as online simulations based on real-time traffic data as basis for dynamic traffic management systems.