Process / pipelineFlow dynamics
Traffic Flow (LWR Model)
The Lighthill-Whitham-Richards (LWR) model is a macroscopic traffic flow model that treats traffic as a compressible fluid, applying conservation of vehicles and a flow-density relationship. Introduced independently by Lighthill and Whitham (1955) and Richards (1956), the model predicts traffic wave propagation, congestion formation, and bottleneck behavior on highways.
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Sources
- Lighthill, M. J., & Whitham, G. B. (1955). On kinematic waves I. Flow movement in long rivers. Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 229(1178), 281-316. DOI: 10.1098/rspa.1955.0088 ↗
- Richards, P. I. (1956). Shock waves on the highway. Operations Research, 4(1), 42-51. DOI: 10.1287/opre.4.1.42 ↗
- Daganzo, C. F. (1994). The cell transmission model: A dynamic representation of highway traffic consistent with the hydrodynamic theory. Transportation Research Part B, 28(4), 269-287. DOI: 10.1016/0191-2615(94)90002-7 ↗