A network flow algorithm for the cell-based single-destination system optimal dynamic traffic assignment problem

The cell-transmission model-based single-destination system optimal dynamic traffic assignment problem proposed by Ziliaskopoulos was mostly solved by standard linear programming (LP) methods, e.g., simplex and interior point methods, which produce link-based flows involving vehicle-holding phenomenon. In this paper we present a network flow algorithm for this problem. We show that the problem is equivalent to the earliest arrival flow and then solve the earliest arrival flow on a time-expanded network. In particular, a scaled flow scheme is proposed to deal with the situation in which the ratio of backward wave speed to forward wave speed is less than one. The proposed algorithm produces path-based flows exhibiting realistic nonvehicleholding properties. Complexity and numerical analyses show that the algorithm runs more efficiently than LP.