Lattice Boltzmann Method for Heterogeneous Multi-Class Traffic Flow

Abstract

Traffic modeling often keeps the mesoscopic scale in the theoretical sphere because of the integro-differential nature of its equations. In the present work, it is suggested to use the lattice Boltzmann method to overcome these difficulties while benefiting the strong theoretical foundation of the method. An alternative version of the lattice Boltzmann method for multi-class and heterogeneity in traffic flow is elaborated in this paper. Its ability to reproduce the fundamental diagram is proved, for both single-class and multi-class flows. This allows easily simulating complex and realistic cases of mixture of multi-class traffic flow. These simulations are able to capture jamming in various traffic situations such as road merging, reduction of the number of lanes or change of speed limits.