Comparing traffic flow models with different number of “phases”

By comparing microscopic traffic flow models with a different number of phases in the context of a simple scenario, the similarities as well as the differences of the various traffic flow models can be discussed. It turns out that there is a certain range of traffic flow conditions, where it is difficult to discern the space-time patterns produced by the different models. However, there are some other regions in the parameter space, where clear differences can be detected. Although the results obtained here cannot directly transformed into a real test with real-world data, they may help to finally define realistic scenarios which would result in a clear decision about which model describes reality best. Copyright EDP Sciences/Società Italiana di Fisica/Springer-Verlag 2008