# Jams, Waves, and Clusters

Have you been suffering from traffic jams lately and asking yourself why freeways are no free ways anymore? After several great advances in traffic theory, Korean physicists  have now offered an interpretation of a recently discovered state of congested traffic, called “synchronized” traffic . Their fluid-dynamic simulations can be a useful tool for an optimization of traffic flow on motorways.

When Nagel and Schreckenberg presented their cellular automaton model of traffic flow in 1992 , allowing for a more than real-time simulation of the entire road system of large cities, they probably did not anticipate the flood of publications and the enthusiasm among scientists that they would cause on the subject of traffic theory. By treating huge numbers of interacting vehicles similar to classical many-particle systems, physicists have recently added a lot to a better understanding of traffic flow. The mathematical tools that they use, stemming mainly from statistical physics and non-linear dynamics, have proved their interdisciplinary value many times. This includes concepts reaching from self-organized criticality and phase transitions up to the kinetic theory of gases, fluids, and granular media.

In traffic, drivers try to maximize their own utilities (i.e. velocity, safety, and comfort) within the constraints imposed by physical limitations and traffic rules. Under certain conditions, their competitive, non-linear interactions give rise to the formation of collective patterns of motion like traffic jams. The various observed phenomena on freeways are surprisingly rich: Apart from free traffic and extended traffic jams behind bottlenecks, there are localized clusters (small moving jams) and stop-and-go waves. In addition, Kerner and Rehborn  have recently discovered a hysteretic phase transition from free traffic to a form of congested traffic (mostly appearing close to on-ramps) that had not been identified in more than 40 years of traffic research, they say. Kerner and Rehborn call it “synchronized” traffic because of the synchronization of velocities among lanes. However, the probably more characteristic feature is its high flow in spite of the breakdown of velocity, which is in contrast to traffic jams. Downstream of the ramp, the breakdown of velocity eventually relaxes to free traffic in the course of the freeway. Another interesting property is the wide scattering of synchronized traffic states, when plotted in the flow-density plane, which differs from the quasi-linear density-dependence of free traffic flow.

Lee et al.  have now suggested an explanation for this hysteretic phase transition. They simulated freeways, including on- and off-ramps, with a fluid-dynamic traffic model that is closely related to the Navier-Stokes equations for viscous, compressible fluids. However, it contains an additional relaxation term describing adaptation of average vehicle velocity to an equilibrium velocity, which monotonically decreases with growing density. In comparison with previous simulation studies, Lee et al. used another velocity-density relation and a considerably different set of parameters. By a temporary peak in the on-ramp flow, they managed to trigger a form of oscillating congested traffic that is propagating upstream, but pinned at the location of the ramp (see Fig. 1a). They call it the “recurring hump” state (RH) and compare it to autocatalytic oscillators. Free traffic would correspond to a point attractor and the oscillating traffic state to a stable limit cycle. In terms of non-linear dynamics, the transition corresponds to a Hopf bifurcation, but a subcritical one, since the critical ramp flow depends on the size of the perturbation.

Lee et al. point out that free traffic (FT) survives the assumed pulse-type perturbation of finite amplitude, if the ramp flow is below a certain critical value. However, once a RH state has formed, it is self-maintained until the ramp flow falls below another critical value which is smaller than the one for the transition from FT to the RH state. This proves the hysteretic nature of the transition. Moreover, Lee et al. could show the gradual spatial transition from the RH state to free flow downstream of the ramp. They also managed to reproduce the synchronization among neighboring freeway lanes as a result of lane changes. Therefore, they suggest that their model can describe the empirically observed first-order phase transition to synchronized traffic. The two-dimensional scattering of synchronized traffic states is understood as a result of the fact that the amplitude of the oscillating traffic state depends on the ramp flow.

Although the interpretation of synchronized traffic by Lee et al. does not quantitatively agree with the observations, in various respects it comes pretty close to reality. Meanwhile, a more complete explanation has been offered . Above all, the findings are also of great practical importance. A more detailled analysis shows that there is a whole spectrum of different states that can form at ramps. Their occurence decisively depends on the inflow as well as the ramp length (see Fig. 1b). This is not only relevant for an appropriate dimensioning of ramps, but also for an optimal on-ramp control.

In conclusion, traffic theory is presently more interesting than ever before. Recent advances have yielded a better understanding of traffic flow phenomena as well as realistic and fast simulation models. Scientists are now prepared to design on-line controls for efficient traffic optimization, calculate the environmental impact of congestion, and develop methods for traffic forecasts.   

References

Hyperlinks

* PD Dr. Dirk Helbing:   
http://www.theo2.physik.uni-stuttgart.de/helbing.html
* Dr. Martin Treiber:   
http://www.theo2.physik.uni-stuttgart.de/treiber.html
* Dr. H. Y. Lee:   
http://phya.snu.ac.kr/~agnes
* Prof. Dr. D. Kim:   
http://phya.snu.ac.kr/~dkim
* Dr. Kai Nagel:   
http://www.santafe.edu/~kai/
* Prof. Dr. Michael Schreckenberg:   
http://traffic.comphys.uni-duisburg.de/member/home\_schreck.html
* Hot links to traffic research:   
http://traffic.comphys.Uni-Duisburg.DE/hottrafficlinks.html
* International Conference “Traffic and Granular Flow ’99: SOCIAL, TRAFFIC, AND GRANULAR DYNAMICS”:   
http://www.theo2.physik.uni-stuttgart.de/tgf99/
* Simulate traffic with a cellular automaton:   
http://www.theo2.physik.uni-stuttgart.de/helbing/RoadApplet/
* Preprint server cond-mat:   
http://xxx.lanl.gov/find/cond-mat/