Particle hopping models for two-lane traffic with two kinds of vehicles: effects of lane-changing rules

Abstract

We develop particle-hopping models of two-lane traffic with two different types of vehicles (characterized by two different values of the maximum allowed speed V_max) generalizing the Nagel-Schrecknnberg stochastic cellular-automata model for single-lane traffic with a single V_max. The simplest of the two models is symmetric with respect to the two lanes as well as with respect to the two types of vehicles. In the asymmetric model, different rules govern the changing from the the "fast" lanes to the "slow" one and the reverse process. Moreover, in the asymmetric model, the drivers of fast vehicles can anticipate, often well in advance, the possibility of getting trapped behind a slow vehicle and tend to avoid such possibilities.