Automatic bottleneck detection based on traffic hysteresis phenomena:: An application to Paris highway network

This paper refers to the problematic that the phenomenon of traffic hysteresis induces from a macroscopic overview. Firstly, the document presents a topological analysis of traffic hysteresis in two levels of variation: density and flow. The referred analysis takes into account temporal and spatial components of the phenomena and is based on empirical data obtained from a freeway bottleneck configuration. Secondly, a mathematical model supported on the basic traffic equation is formalized in order to describe the phenomenon of hysteresis. The econometric adjustment of the model follows this stage with a discussion about the possible extensions of this model. Finally, the proposed model is applied to the A-14 highway and presented later on. Thereafter, some implications of the hysteresis phenomenon are discussed on the basis of economical planning and evaluation of transport systems.