Introduction to Modern Traffic Flow Theory and Control

This in-depth treatment explains the nature of traffic breakdown and the resulting congestion in vehicular traffic on the basis of three-phase traffic theory, in a manner consistent with real measured traffic data. The author also addresses freeway traffic control methods within the framework of the theory. He demonstrates and explains why the earlier theoretical basis of transportation engineering, research and teaching cannot adequately describe traffic breakdown as observed in measured traffic data. Links between three-phase traffic theory and earlier traffic flow theories are discussed. Last but not least, the book provides a new fundament for transportation engineering, in particular highway traffic management, as well as the background needed to research the complex system dynamics in traffic flow and transportation networks. It will appeal to students, engineers, and physicists interested in transportation systems and complex dynamical systems in general.