A Model of City Traffic Based on Elementary Cellular Automata

Several highway traffic models based on cellular automata have been proposed. The simplest one is elementary cellular automaton rule 184. We extend this model to city traffic with cellular automata coupled at intersections using only rules 184, 252, and 136. We study the model properties by simulating a single intersection. We describe the different dynamical phases of the model with velocity-density and flux-density diagrams. The model is useful for studying the problem of traffic light coordination for very large systems.