Three approaches to the dynamic network loading problem

This paper investigates three methods for dynamic network loading that are considerably less detailed than microscopic modeling. Each of the three methods is based on a different approach to modeling traffic dynamics: link-based travel time functions, the cell-transmission model, and a link-based model derived from a simplified car-following relationship. A small test network was devised and the results from each model were compared to those obtained with a micro-simulator (INTEGRATION). Interpretation of the discrepancies observed in the results gives some indication of the relative importance of the different components of the three traffic models presented.