Recurrence analysis applications to short-term macroscopic and microscopic road traffic

Abstract

The applicability of the theory of Recurrence Plots and Recurrence Quantification Analysis to short-term traffic flow is demonstrated through three distinct road traffic case studies. The first focuses on short-term traffic patterns of volume and speed in urban freeway sections. The second case study examines urban traffic flow dynamics under different traffic conditions and associates them to specific short-term statistical characteristics. The third case study discusses the use of the Recurrence Analysis for modeling the dynamics of the microscopic car following behavior on freeways. The applicability is discussed at a conceptual level and each case study is then presented. Finally, the modeling implications of the results on traffic flow prediction are discussed. © 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland.