Traffic cellular automata model for mixed car and truck flow on multilane highways

Chechina A.A., Churbanova N.G., Trapeznikova M.A.
 pdf (910K)

The objective of this article is to develop a model for a realistic description of a mixed flow of two types of vehicles (cars and trucks) on multi-lane highways, taking into account differences not only in the technical characteristics of vehicles (dimensions, maximum speed), but also differences in driving strategies. The article includes a literature review, including publications of recent years, confirming the relevance of modeling heterogeneous traffic flows.

The new model takes into account that trucks have a lower maximum speed compared to cars and are slower to start. They are less maneuverable, so it is more difficult for them to change lanes. In addition, the movement of trucks can be regulated by some restrictive rules, for example, a ban on driving in left lanes.

The model is based on the cellular automata theory, which allows for a comprehensive description of the features of individual flow components. At each time step, the state of the automaton cells is updated in two stages — changing lanes and moving forward. The algorithms of both substeps for cars and trucks differ. Each vehicle is assigned a number of parameters: vehicle type, length, maximum speed, lane change strategy, in-lane movement strategy.

The model is implemented as a software package that allows simulating traffic on various sections of the road network — intersections, sections with narrowing and widening of the road, entrances and exits from the highway. In this work, a road section with a varying number of lanes and a straight multi-lane section with a virtual detector were selected for testing the model. The results are presented in the form of local speed-density and flow-density diagrams, as well as spatiotemporal speed diagrams.

To test the model, a number of problems with different percentages of passenger cars and trucks are solved, which allows demonstrating a drop in the capacity of elements of the road network with an increase in the share of trucks in the flow. The cases of uniform distribution by lanes and the restriction to the right lane for trucks are simulated. The positive effect of introducing a ban on the movement of trucks in left lanes on a multi-lane highway is illustrated.

Keywords: traffic flow theory, macroscopic and microscopic models, cellular automata, multi-lane traffic, heterogeneous flow, virtual detector, traffic capacity
Citation in English: Chechina A.A., Churbanova N.G., Trapeznikova M.A. Traffic cellular automata model for mixed car and truck flow on multilane highways // Computer Research and Modeling, 2026, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 61-80
Citation in English: Chechina A.A., Churbanova N.G., Trapeznikova M.A. Traffic cellular automata model for mixed car and truck flow on multilane highways // Computer Research and Modeling, 2026, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 61-80
DOI: 10.20537/2076-7633-2026-18-1-61-80
URL: http://crm-en.ics.org.ru/journal/article/3688/
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Copyright © 2026 Chechina A.A., Churbanova N.G., Trapeznikova M.A.

Indexed in Scopus

Full-text version of the journal is also available on the web site of the scientific electronic library eLIBRARY.RU

The journal is included in the Russian Science Citation Index

The journal is included in the RSCI

International Interdisciplinary Conference "Mathematics. Computing. Education"

Website Copyright © 2009–2026 Institute of Computer Science