Interaction of jamitons in second-order macroscopic traffic models (Q6931040)

Jamitons are self-sustained traveling waves that appear in certain second-order traffic models when the local density violates the sub-characteristic condition, which requires the characteristic speed of the associated LWR model to lie between those of the second-order model. This work analyzes, both analytically and numerically, how jamitons collide within the ARZ model. A compatibility condition is introduced to identify jamitons capable of colliding. The collision produces a new jamiton with a different propagation speed, and the resulting exit velocity tends to smooth the initial velocities of the interacting waves. The study also examines changes in amplitude, length, and maximum density: for many sonic densities, the exit amplitude and maximum density are equal to or larger than the incoming values, while the resulting jamiton is always longer. Finally, the effect of driver reaction time is explored, showing that amplitude, exit velocity, and maximum density remain largely unaffected, whereas the exit length does depend on the reaction time.