Section: Application Domains

Traffic flow

The modeling and analysis of traffic phenomena can be performed at a macroscopic scale by using partial differential equations derived from fluid dynamics. Such models give a description of collective dynamics in terms of the spatial density $\rho (t,x)$ and average velocity $v(t,x)$. Continuum models have shown to be in good agreement with empirical data. Moreover, they are suitable for analytical investigations and very efficient from the numerical point of view. Finally, they contain only few variables and parameters and they can be very versatile in order to describe different situations encountered in practice.

Opale's research focuses on the study of macroscopic models of vehicular and pedestrian traffic, and how optimal control approaches can be used in traffic management. The project opens new perspectives of inter-disciplinary collaborations on urban planning and crowd dynamics analysis.