Abstract
We study the effect of local regulation mechanisms on stochastic network traffic, based on simple examples. Using the totally asymmetric simple exclusion process on a multiloop structure in which several segments share a single junction, we illustrate several mechanisms: (i) additional segments improve transport but the effect saturates due to blockage, (ii) bias reduces the overall transport and leads to several regimes, (iii) “pumping” particles out of the junctions, via a locally increased hopping rate, allows us to compensate the bottlenecks but becomes futile beyond a characteristic rate which we determine. We provide a generic discussion of combinations of these effects, including phase diagrams in terms of the control parameters.