Synopses & Reviews
This book is devoted to the explanation of freeway traffic congestion, a fact of life for many car drivers. Results of empirical observations of freeway congestion, which exhibit diverse complex spatiotemporal patterns including moving traffic jams, are analyzed. Empirical features of these reproducible freeway traffic patterns only recently sufficiently well understood are reviewed. In the first part, three-phase traffic theory can be found, which is the basis for a physical theory of traffic phenomena and its applications in engineering. In the second part, the empirical spatiotemporal patterns are examined and, finally in parts III and IV, the mathematical model and the engineering applications are addressed. The Physics of Traffic addresses researchers and practitioners alike.
Review
From the reviews: "For the analysis of complex spatiotemporal behaviour of traffic on motorways Kerner's book severs as an important basis for freeway traffic science that can be valuable for traffic scientists and engineers in solving many tasks in traffic engineering." (Hartmut Keller, tec-Traffic Engineering and Control International Journal of Traffic Management and Transportation Planning 2005, vol. 46, page 72-73) "I commend Boris Kerner on his pioneering research on a new traffic theory... [This] is the first book I have read that offers detailed discussions about traffic congestion on freeways." --Henry Lieu, in Physics Today, November 2005 "Key topic of the book is the description of empirical spatiotemporal behaviour of traffic based on the Kerner's three-phase traffic theory. The content of the book is based on research work, which Kerner has performed ... . The comprehensive bibliography ... is impressive whereby they are referred to almost solely as reference numbers in the text. ... Kerner's book serves as an important basis for freeway traffic science that can be valuable for traffic scientists and engineers in solving many tasks in traffic engineering." (Hartmut Keller, tec-Traffic Engineering and Control, Vol. 46 (2), 2005) "Boris Kerner presents in his book an in-depth and comprehensive presentation of his three-phase theory of freeway traffic flow. ... It might well mark a milestone in the long-lasting discussion on modeling of freeway traffic flow. ... The book is didactically very well written, it guides the reader through the material by providing figurative descriptions whenever possible before diving into mathematics. Every chapter starts and ends with summaries ... ." (Peter Vortisch, IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine, June, 2006)
Synopsis
This monograph is devoted to a new approach to an old field of scientific investigation, freeway traffic research. Freeway traffic is an extremely complex spatiotemporal nonlinear dynamic process. For this reason, it is not surprising that empirical traffic pattern features have only recently been sufficiently understood. Such empirical features are in serious conflict with almost all earlier theoretical and model results. Consequently, the author introduced a new traffic flow theory called "three-phase traffic theory," which can explain these empirical spatiotemporal traffic patterns. The main focus of this book is a consideration of empirical spatiotemporal traffic pattern features, their engineering applications, and explanations based on the three-phase traffic theory. The book consists of four parts. In Part I, empirical studies of traffic flow patterns, earlier traffic flow theories, and mathematical models are briefly reviewed. Three-phase traffic theory is considered as well. This theory is a qualitative theory. Main ideas and results of the three-phase traffic flow the- ory will be introduced and explained without complex mathematical models. This should be suitable for a very broad audience of practical engineers, physicists, and other readers who may not necessarily be specialists in traf- fic flow problems, and who may not necessarily have worked in the field of spatiotemporal pattern formation. In Part II, empirical spatiotemporal traffic pattern features are consid- ered. A microscopic three-phase traffic theory of these patterns and results of an application of the pattern features to engineering applications are pre- sented in Part III and Part IV, respectively.
Synopsis
The core of ths book presents a theory developed by the author to combine the recent insight into empirical data with mathematical models in freeway traffic research based on dynamical non-linear processes.