Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Urban congestion continues to worsen worldwide, underscoring the need for efficient traffic management models. In this study, we extend the existing kinematic theory (KT) cellular automata (CA) model by incorporating a traffic-light module to systematically evaluate how key parameters affect traffic flow and average velocity on a one-lane road containing multiple signalized intersections. Simulations are primarily conducted under periodic boundary conditions to isolate and examine the influence of each parameter. All original KT model features—including the safety-analysis-based determination of velocity and acceleration at each time step—are retained, enabling realistic heterogeneous driving behavior. Additionally, we analyze arrival and departure dynamics under semi-open boundary conditions to gain deeper insight into urban traffic behavior. The results indicate that the maximum traffic flow at a maximum velocity of 60 km/h and a reaction time of 1.0 s is 794 vehicles/h at a density of 0.4 vehicle/cell. Adaptive acceleration increases traffic flow by up to 20% for densities below 0.7 vehicle/cell and even more at higher densities, while reducing the reaction time by 0.2 s increases traffic flow by up to 17%. Increasing the maximum acceleration by 1 m/s2 yields only a modest rise of up to 5%. At a maximum velocity of 80 km/h, traffic flow is up to 46% higher relative to 40 km/h, although the effect diminishes at higher densities. Furthermore, semi-open boundary conditions produce consistently higher traffic flow than periodic boundaries. These findings demonstrate that the enhanced KT–CA model can capture the effects of driver behavior and traffic-signal timing, offering an improved framework for analyzing and optimizing urban traffic systems.
Source: Applied Sciences
DOI: 10.3390/app16136468
Authors: Andrej Rigler, Goran Turk
Institution: University of Ljubljana
Language: English
Subfield: Control and Systems Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,896
Award: Structural mechanics
OpenAlex ID: W7166667775