| Characteristic Speeds Faster than the Average Vehicle Speed Do Not Constitute a Theoretical Inconsistency of Macroscopic Traffic Models (2008) | |||||||||
Abstract | |||||||||
| The study of linear stability of traffic models is a widely established approach to study the ability of traffic models to describe emergent traffic jams. Here, besides deriving a collection of useful formulas for stability analyses, the main attention will be put on the characteristic speeds, which correspond to the group velocities of the linearized model equations. Most macroscopic traffic models containing a dynamic velocity equation predict two characteristic speeds, one of which is faster than the average velocity. This has been claimed to constitute a theoretical inconsistency. It is shown, however, that microscopic car-following models show the same characteristic speeds and that the apparent inconsistency can be resolved by a careful theoretical analysis.. Comment: For related work see http://www.soms.ethz.ch | |||||||||
Publication details | |||||||||
| |||||||||