Physical modeling of traffic with stochastic cellular automata

A new type of probabilistic cellular automaton for the physical description of single and multilane traffic is presented. In this model space, time and the velocity of the cars are represented by integer numbers (as usual in cellular automata) with local update rules for the velocity. The model is very efficient for both numerical simulations and analytical investigations. The numerical results from extensive simulations reproduce very well data taken from real traffic (e.g. fundamental diagrams). Several analytical results for the model are presented as well as new approximation schemes for stationary traffic. In addition the relation to continuum hydrodynamic theory (Lighthill-Whitham) and the follow-the-leader models is discussed. The model is part of an interdisciplinary research program in Northrhine-Westfalia (``NRW Forschungsverbund Verkehrssimulation``) for the construction of a large scale microsimulation model for network traffic, supported by the government of NRW