Mathematical Models of Traffic Flow at a Signalized Intersection

Abstract

This paper presents two one-dimensional mathematical models describing automobile traffic flow on straight road segments at a signalized intersection. When the traffic light is permissive, the flow density and velocity are obtained by solving an initial-boundary value problem for a first-order hyperbolic system. When the signal is prohibitive, the same quantities are governed by a mixed system comprising a second-order parabolic equation for the velocity and a first-order equation for the density.