Dynamic urban traffic flow behavior on scale-free networks

In this paper, we propose a new dynamic traffic model (DTM) for routing choice behaviors (RCB) in which both topology structures and dynamical properties are considered to address the RCB problem by using numerical experiments. The phase transition from free flow to congestion is found by simulations. Further, different topologies are studied in which large degree distribution exponents may alleviate or avoid the occurrence of traffic congestion efficiently. Compared with random networks, it is also found that scale-free networks can bear larger volume of traffic by our model. Finally, based on the concept of routing guide system (RGS), we give a dynamic traffic control model (DTCM) by extending DTM. And we find that choosing an appropriate eta-value can enhance the system's capacity maximally. We also address several open theoretical problems related to the urban traffic network dynamics and traffic flow. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.