https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2008-00153-6
Network breakdown “at the edge of chaos” in multi-agent traffic simulations
1
Transport Systems Planning and Transport Telematics (VSP), TU Berlin, Salzufer 17-19, Sekr. SG 12, 10587 Berlin, Germany
2
Institute for Transport Planning and Systems (IVT), ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
Received:
31
August
2007
Revised:
14
February
2008
Published online:
18
April
2008
Traffic is highly influenced by network structure and human behaviour. Small changes in the human behaviour can lead to huge changes in the load of a traffic network. Current transportation models do not, and most of them cannot, research such random behaviour but always calculate a steady state. In our multi-agent transport simulation, we frequently observe seemingly random “network breakdowns”, huge traffic jams that spread over a big part of the network, making a normal traffic flow impossible. This paper describes the investigations that were performed on the results of our large-scale multi-agent transport simulations in an attempt to contribute to the better understanding of the dynamic processes in such simulations and, hopefully, better understanding and modelling of the real-world.
PACS: 45.70.Vn – Granular models of complex systems; traffic flow / 89.40.Bb – Land transportation / 89.75.-k – Complex systems
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2008