University of Vermont. Transportation Research Center
Abstract
The two-dimensional tra\ufb03c model of Biham, Middleton and Levine (BML) is a simple cellular automaton that exhibits a wide range of complex behavior. It consists of both northbound and eastbound cars traveling on a rectangular array of cells, each cell equipped with a tra\ufb03c signal. The tra\ufb03c signals switch synchronously from allowing northbound \ufb02ow to eastbound \ufb02ow. By gating individual tra\ufb03c signals, i.e. allowing individual tra\ufb03c signals to break from synchrony in predetermined, deterministic scenarios based on the local state of tra\ufb03c, the range for which the system self-organizes into a state of unimpeded \ufb02ow is extended. On a 100x100 cell array, this additional intelligence enables accommodation of 200 cars more than the original BML model, without any reduction in average velocity