Density-feedback control in traffic and transport far from equilibrium

Abstract: A bottleneck situation in one-lane traffic-flow is typically modelled with a constant demand of entering cars. However, in practice this demand may depend on the density of cars in the bottleneck. The present paper studies a simple bimodal realization of this mechanism to which we refer to as density-feedback control (DFC): If the actual density in the bottleneck is above a certain threshold, the reservoir density of possibly entering cars is reduced to a different constant value. By numerical solution of the discretized viscid Burgers equation a rich stationary phase diagram is found. In order to maximize the flow, which is the goal of typical traffic-management strategies, we find the optimal choice of the threshold. Analytical results are verified by computer simulations of the microscopic TASEP with DFC.