Particle Hopping Models, Traffic Flow Theory, and Traffic Jam Dynamics

Although particle hopping models have been introduced into traffic science in the 1950s, their systematic use has only started recently. Two reasons for this are, that they are advantageous on modern computers, and that recent theoretical developments allow analytical understanding of their properties and therefore more confidence for their use. In principle, particle hopping models fit between microscopic models for driving and fluid-dynamical models for traffic flow. In this sense, they also help closing the conceptual gap between these two. This paper starts out with building connections between particle hopping models and traffic flow theory.\n