Summary
This paper shows that including the effects of lane-changing activity in kinematic wave theory reveals the physical mechanisms and reproduces the main empirical features that motivated Kerner’s three-phase theory. This is shown using a hybrid representation of traffic flow where lane-changing vehicles are treated as discrete particles with realistic accelerations embedded in a continuous multilane kinematic wave stream. We show that this parsimonious four-parameter model reproduces the three phases identified by Kerner, including phase transitions and jam formation. We conclude that synchronized flow and wide-moving jams differ only in their lane-changing spatiotemporal patterns, but obey the same conservation laws and boundary conditions. Freeway segments with one, two and three junctions are analyzed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
B S Kerner. The physics of traffic. Springer, 2004.
HS Mika, JB Kreer, and LS Yuan. Dual mode behavior of freeway traffic. High. Res. Rec. 279: 1–13, 1969.
K Agyemang-Duah and FL Hall. Some issues regarding the numerical value of freeway capacity. In U. Brannolte, editor, International Symposium on Highway Capacity, pages 1–15, Balkema, Rotterdam, 1991.
FL Hall and K Agyemang-Duah. Freeway capacity drop and the definition of capacity. Transportation Research Record, TRB 1320:91–98, 1991.
B S Kerner and H Rehborn. Experimental features and characteristics of traffic jams. Phys. Rev. E 53: R1297–R1300, 1996.
B Persaud, S Yagar, and R Brownlee. Exploration of the breakdown phenomenon in freeway traffic. Transportation Research Record, TRB 1634: 64–69, 1998.
J Treiterer and JA Myers. The hysteresis phenomenon in traffic flow. In D. J. Buckley, editor, 6th Int. Symp. on Transportation and Traffic Theory, pages 13–38, A.H. and A.W. Reed, London, 1974.
DC Gazis, R Herman, and G Weiss. Density oscillations between lanes of a multilane highway. Operations Research 10: 658–667, 1962.
G F Newell. Theories of instability in dense highway traffic. J. Opns. Res. Japan 1(5): 9–54, 1962.
K Smilowitz, C Daganzo, J Cassidy, and R Bertini. Some observations of high-way traffic in long queues. Trans. Res. Rec. 1678: 225–233, 1999.
MJ Cassidy and M Mauch. An observed traffic pattern in long freeway queues. Trans. Res. A 2(35): 143–156, 2001.
J M Del Castillo. Propagation of perturbations in dense traffic flow: a model and its implications. Trans. Res. B 2(35): 367–390, 2001.
M Mauch and MJ Cassidy. Freeway traffic oscillations: Observations and predictions. In M.A.P. Taylor, editor, 15th Int. Symp. on Transportation and Traffic Theory, Pergamon-Elsevier, Oxford, U.K., 2002.
B S Kerner and H Rehborn. Experimental properties of phase transitions in traffic flow. Phys. Rev. Lett. 79: 4030–4033, 1997.
B S Kerner and H Rehborn. Theory of congeste traffic flow: self-organization without bottlenecks. In A. Ceder, editor, 14th Int. Symp. on Transportation and Traffic Theory, pages 147–177, Pergamon, New York, N.Y., 1999.
B S Kerner. Complexity of synchronized flow and related problems for basic assumptions of traffic flow theories. In H. M. Zhang, editor, Networks and Spatial Economics, pages 35–76. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, USA, 2001.
CF Daganzo, M Cassidy, and R Bertini. Possible explanations of phase transitions in highway traffic. Trans. Res. A 5(33): 365–379, 1999.
JA Laval and CF Daganzo. Lane-changing in traffic streams. Trans. Res. B (In Press), 2005.
JA Laval, M Cassidy, and CF Daganzo. Impacts of lane changes at merge bottlenecks: A theory and strategies to maximize capacity. these proceedings.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Laval, J.A. (2007). Linking Synchronized Flow and Kinematic Waves. In: Schadschneider, A., Pöschel, T., Kühne, R., Schreckenberg, M., Wolf, D.E. (eds) Traffic and Granular Flow’05. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-47641-2_49
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-47641-2_49
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-47640-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-47641-2
eBook Packages: Mathematics and StatisticsMathematics and Statistics (R0)