Back to the main publication page.

INTRODUCTION
BY NATHAN H. GARTNER1
CARROLL MESSER2
AJAY K. RATHI3

1
Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Massachusetts at Lowell, 1 University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854.
2
Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, TTI Civil Engineering Building, Suite 304C, College Station,
TX 77843-3135.
3
Senior R&D Program Manager and Group Leader, ITS Research, Center for Transportation Analysis, Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6207.
 1. INTRODUCTION

1.
INTRODUCTION
It is hardly necessary to emphasize the importance of By 1959 traffic flow theory had developed to the point where it
transportation in our lives. In the United States, we spend about appeared desirable to hold an international symposium. The
20 percent of Gross National Product (GNP) on transportation, First International Symposium on The Theory of Traffic Flow
of which about 85 percent is spent on highway transportation was held at the General Motors Research Laboratories in
(passenger and freight). We own and operate 150 million Warren, Michigan in December 1959 (Herman 1961). This was
automobiles and an additional 50 million trucks, bringing car the first of what has become a series of triennial symposia on
ownership to 56 per hundred population (highest in the world). The Theory of Traffic flow and Transportation. The most recent
These vehicles are driven an average of 10,000 miles per year in this series, the 12th symposium was held in Berkeley,
for passenger cars and 50,000 miles per year for trucks on a California in 1993 (Daganzo 1993). A glance through the
highway system that comprises more than 4 million miles. The proceedings of these symposia will provide the reader with a
indices in other countries may be somewhat different, but the good indication of the tremendous developments in the
importance of the transportation system, and especially the understanding and the treatment of traffic flow processes in the
highway component of it, is just the same or even greater. While past 40 years. Since that time numerous other symposia and
car ownership in some countries may be lower, the available specialty conferences are being held on a regular basis dealing
highway network is also smaller leading to similar or more with a variety of traffic related topics. The field of traffic flow
severe congestion problems. theory and transportation has become too diffuse to be covered
by any single type of meeting. Yet, the fundamentals of traffic
Traffic flow theories seek to describe in a precise mathematical flow theory, while better understood and more easily
way the interactions between the vehicles and their operators characterized through advanced computation technology, are just
(the mobile components) and the infrastructure (the immobile as important today as they were in the early days. They form the
component). The latter consists of the highway system and all its foundation for all the theories, techniques and procedures that
operational elements: control devices, signage, markings, etc. are being applied in the design, operation, and development of
As such, these theories are an indispensable construct for all advanced transportation systems.
models and tools that are being used in the design and operation
of streets and highways. The scientific study of traffic flow had It is the objective of this monograph to provide an updated
its beginnings in the 1930’s with the application of probability survey of the most important models and theories that
theory to the description of road traffic (Adams 1936) and the characterize the flow of highway traffic in its many facets. This
pioneering studies conducted by Bruce D. Greenshields at the monograph follows in the tracks of two previous works that were
Yale Bureau of Highway Traffic; the study of models relating sponsored by the Committee on Theory of Traffic Flow of the
volume and speed (Greenshields 1935) and the investigation of Transportation Research Board (TRB) and its predecessor the
performance of traffic at intersections (Greenshields 1947). Highway Research Board (HRB). The first monograph, which
After WWII, with the tremendous increase in use of automobiles was published as HRB Special Report 79 in 1964, consisted of
and the expansion of the highway system, there was also a surge selected chapters in the then fledgling Traffic Science each of
in the study of traffic characteristics and the development of which was written by a different author (Gerlough and Capelle
traffic flow theories. The 1950’s saw theoretical developments 1964). The contents included:
based on a variety of approaches, such as car-following, traffic
wave theory (hydrodynamic analogy) and queuing theory. Some Chapter 1. Part I: Hydrodynamic Approaches, by L. A. Pipes.
of the seminal works of that period include the works by Part II: On Kinematic Waves; A Theory of Traffic Flow on Long
Reuschel (1950a; 1950b; 1950c), Wardrop (1952), Pipes Crowded Roads, by M. J. Lighthill and G. B. Whitham.
(1953), Lighthill and Whitham (1955), Newell (1955), Webster
(1957), Edie and Foote (1958), Chandler et al. (1958) and other Chapter 2. Car Following and Acceleration Noise, by E. W.
papers by Herman et al. (see Herman 1992). Montroll and R. B. Potts.

1-1
 1. INTRODUCTION

Chapter 3. Queuing Theory Approaches, by D. E. Cleveland their entirety and include the latest research and information in
and D. G. Capelle. their respective areas. Chapter 2 presents the various models
that have been developed to characterize the relationships among
Chapter 4. Simulation of Traffic Flow, by D. L. Gerlough. the traffic stream variables: speed, flow, and concentration.
Most of the relationships are concerned with uninterrupted traffic
Chapter 5. Some Experiments and Applications, by R. S. Foote. flow, primarily on freeways or expressways. The chapter
stresses the link between theory and measurement capability,
A complete rewriting of the monograph was done by Gerlough since to as large extent development of the first depends on the
and Huber (1975) and was published as TRB Special Report latter.
165 in 1975. It consisted of nine chapters, as follows:
Chapter 3, on Human Factors, discusses salient performance
Chapter 1. Introduction. aspects of the human element in the context of the person-
machine system, i.e. the motor vehicle. The chapter describes
Chapter 2. Measurement of Flow, Speed, and Concentration. first discrete components of performance, including: perception-
reaction time, control movement time, responses to traffic
Chapter 3. Statistical Distributions of Traffic Characteristics. control devices, to the movement of other vehicles, to hazards in
the roadway, and how different segments of the population differ
Chapter 4. Traffic Stream Models. in performance. Next, the kind of control performance that
underlies steering, braking, and speed control -- the primary
Chapter 5. Driver Information Processing Characteristics. control functions -- is described. Applications of open-loop and
closed-loop vehicle control to specific maneuvers such as lane
Chapter 6. Car Following and Acceleration Noise. keeping, car following, overtaking, gap acceptance, lane
closures, and sight distances are also described. To round out
Chapter 7. Hydrodynamic and Kinematic Models of Traffic. the chapter, a few other performance aspects of the driver-
vehicle system are covered, such as speed limit changes,
Chapter 8. Queuing Models (including Delays at distractions on the highway, and responses to real-time driver
Intersections). information. The most obvious application of human factors is
in the development of Car Following Models (Chapter 4). Car
Chapter 9. Simulation of Traffic Flow. following models examine the manner in which individual
vehicles (and their drivers) follow one another. In general, they
This volume is now out of print and in 1987 the TRB Committee are developed from a stimulus-response relationship, where the
on Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics recommended that response of successive drivers in the traffic stream is to
a new monograph be prepared as a joint effort of committee accelerate or decelerate in proportion to the magnitude of the
members and other authors. While many of the basic theories stimulus at time t after a time lag T. Car following models form
may not have changed much, it was felt that there were a bridge between the microscopic behavior of individual vehicles
significant developments to merit writing of a new version of the and the macroscopic characteristics of a single-lane traffic
monograph. The committee prepared a new outline which stream with its corresponding flow and stability properties.
formed the basis for this monograph. After the outline was
agreed upon, the Federal Highway Administration supported this Chapter 5 deals with Continuous Flow Models. Because traffic
effort through an interagency agreement with the Oak Ridge involves flows, concentrations, and speeds, there is a natural
National Laboratory. An Editorial Committee was appointed, tendency to attempt to describe traffic in terms of fluid behavior.
consisting of N. H. Gartner, C. J. Messer, and A. K. Rathi, which Car following models recognize that traffic is made up of
was charged with the editorial duties of the preparation of the discrete particles and it is the interactions between these
manuscripts for the different chapters. particles that have been developed for fluids (i.e., continuum
models) is concerned more with the over all statistical behavior
The first five chapters follow similarly titled chapters in the of the traffic stream rather than with the interactions between the
previous monograph; however, they all have been rewritten in particles. In the fluid flow analogy, the traffic stream is treated

1-2
 1. INTRODUCTION

as a one dimensional compressible fluid. This leads to two basic intersections among two or more streams and provides
assumptions: (i) traffic flow is conserved, which leads to the calculations of capacities and quality of traffic operations based
conservation or continuity equation, and (ii) there is a one-to-one on queuing modeling.
relationship between speed and density or between flow and
density. The simple continuum model consists of the Traffic Flow at Signalized Intersections is discussed in Chapter
conservation equation and the equation of state (speed-density or 9. The statistical theory of traffic flow is presented, in order to
flow-density relationship). If these equations are solved together provide estimates of delays and queues at isolated intersections,
with the basic traffic flow equation (flow equals density times including the effect of upstream traffic signals. This leads to the
speed) we can obtain the speed, flow and density at any time and discussion of traffic bunching, dispersion and coordination at
point of the roadway. By knowing these basic traffic flow traffic signals. The fluid (shock-wave) approach to traffic
variables, we know the state of the traffic system and can derive signal analysis is not covered in this chapter; it is treated to
measures of effectiveness, such as delays, stops, travel time, total some extent in Chapter 5. Both pretimed and actuated signal
travel and other measures that allow the analysts to evaluate how control theory are presented in some detail. Further, delay
well the traffic system is performing. In this chapter, both models that are founded on steady-state queue theory as well as
simple and high order models are presented along with analytical those using the so-called coordinate transform method are
and numerical methods for their implementation. covered. Adaptive signal control is discussed only in a
qualitative manner since this topic pertains primarily to the
Chapter 6, on Macroscopic Flow Models, discards the development of optimal signal control strategies, which is
microscopic view of traffic in terms of individual vehicles or outside the scope of this chapter.
individual system components (such as links or intersections)
and adopts instead a macroscopic view of traffic in a network. The last chapter, Chapter 10, is on Traffic Simulation.
A variety of models are presented together with empirical Simulation modeling is an increasingly popular and effective tool
evidence of their applicability. Variables that are being for analyzing a wide variety of dynamical problems which are
considered, for example, include the traffic intensity (the distance not amenable to study by other means. These problems are
travelled per unit area), the road density (the length or area of usually associated with complex processes which can not readily
roads per unit area of city), and the weighted space mean speed. be described in analytical terms. To provide an adequate test
The development of such models extends traffic flow theory into bed, the simulation model must reflect with fidelity the actual
the network level and can provide traffic engineers with the traffic flow process. This chapter describes the traffic models
means to evaluate system-wide control strategies in urban areas. that are embedded in simulation packages and the procedures
Furthermore, the quality of service provided to motorists can be that are being used for conducting simulation experiments.
monitored to assess the city's ability to manage growth. Network
performance models could also be used to compare traffic Consideration was also given to the addition of a new chapter on
conditions among different cities in order to determine the Traffic Assignment Models. Traffic assignment is the process
allocation of resources for transportation system improvements. of predicting how a given set of origin-destination (OD) trip
Chapter 7 addresses Traffic Impact Models, specifically, the demands will manifest themselves onto a transportation network
following models are being discussed: Traffic and Safety, Fuel of links and nodes in terms of flows and queues. It has major
Consumption Models, and Air Quality Models. applications in both transportation planning models and in
dynamic traffic management models which are the bedrock of
Chapter 8 is on Unsignalized Intersection Theory. Unsignalized Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). Generally, the
intersections give no positive indication or control to the driver. assignment process consists of a macroscopic simulation of the
The driver alone must decide when it is safe to enter the behavior of travelers in a network of transportation facilities. At
intersection, typically, he looks for a safe opportunity or "gap" in the same time it reflects the interconnection between the
the conflicting traffic. This model of driver behavior is called microscopic models of traffic behavior that are discussed in this
"gap acceptance." At unsignalized intersections the driver must monograph and the overall distribution of traffic demands
also respect the priority of other drivers. This chapter discusses throughout the network. This is expressed by link cost functions
in detail the gap acceptance theory and the headway distributions that serve as a basis for any assignment or route choice process.
used in gap acceptance calculations. It also discusses the After much deliberation by the editorial and advisory committees

1-3
 1. INTRODUCTION

it was decided that the subject cannot be presented adequately in and Iida (1997). This is a lively research area and new
a short chapter within this monograph. It would be better served publications abound.
by a dedicated monograph of its own, or by reference to the
extensive literature in this area. Early references include the Research and developments in transportation systems and,
seminal works of Wardrop (1952), and Beckmann, McGuire and concomitantly, in the theories that accompany them proceed at
Winsten (1956). Later publications include books by Potts and a furious pace. Undoubtedly, by the time this monograph is
Oliver (1972), Florian (1976), Newell (1980), and Sheffi printed, distributed, and read, numerous new developments will
(1985). Recent publications, which reflect modern approaches have occurred. Nevertheless, the fundamental theories will not
to equilibrium assignment and to dynamic traffic assignment, have changed and we trust that this work will provide a useful
include books by Patriksson (1994), Ran and Boyce (1994), source of information for both newcomers to the field and
Gartner and Improta (1995), Florian and Hearn (1995), and Bell experienced workers.

References
Adams, W. F. (1936). Road Traffic Considered as a Random Greenshields, B. D. (1935). A Study in Highway Capacity.
Series, J. Inst. Civil Engineers, 4, pp. 121-130, U.K. Highway Research Board, Proceedings, Vol. 14, p. 458.
Beckmann, M., C.B. McGuire and C.B. Winsten (1956). Greenshields, B. D., D. Schapiro, and E. L. Erickson, (1947).
Studies in the Economics of Transportation. Yale Traffic Performance at Urban Intersections. Bureau of
University Press, New Haven. Highway Traffic, Technical Report No. 1. Yale University
Bell, M.G.H. and Y. Iida (1997). Transportation Network Press, New Haven, CT.
Analysis. John Wiley & Sons. Herman, R., Editor (1961). Theory of Traffic Flow. Elsevier
Chandler, R. E., R. Herman, and E. W. Montroll, (1958). Science Publishers.
Traffic Dynamics: Studies in Car Following, Opns. Herman, R., (1992). Technology, Human Interaction, and
Res. 6, pp. 165-183. Complexity: Reflections on Vehicular Traffic Science.
Daganzo, C. F., Editor (1993). Transportation and Traffic Operations Research, 40(2), pp. 199-212.
Theory. Proceedings, 12th Intl. Symposium. Elsevier Lighthill, M. J. and G. B. Whitham, (1955). On Kinematic
Science Publishers. Waves: II. A Theory of Traffic Flow on Long Crowded
Edie, L. C. and R. S. Foote, (1958). Traffic Flow in Tunnels, Roads. Proceedings of the Royal Society: A229, pp. 317-
Proc. Highway Research Board, 37, pp. 334-344. 347, London.
Florian, M.A., Editor (1976). Traffic Equilibrium Methods. Newell, G. F. (1955). Mathematical Models for Freely
Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems, Flowing Highway Traffic. Operations Research 3,
Springer-Verlag. pp. 176-186.
Florian, M. and D. Hearn (1995). Network Equilibrium Newell, G. F. (1980). Traffic Flow on Transportation
Models and Algorithms. Chapter 6 in Network Routing Networks. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
(M.O. Ball et al., Editors), Handbooks in OR & MS, Vol. Patriksson, M. (1994). The Traffic Assignment Problem;
8, Elsevier Science. Models and Methods. VSP BV, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Gartner, N.H. and G. Improta, Editors (1995). Urban Traffic Pipes, L. A. (1953). An Operational Analysis of Traffic
Networks; Dynamic Flow Modeling and Control. Dynamics. J. Appl. Phys., 24(3), pp. 274-281.
Springer-Verlag. Potts, R.B. and R.M. Oliver (1972). Flows in Transportation
Gerlough, D. L. and D. G. Capelle, Editors (1964). An Networks. Academic Press.
Introduction to Traffic Flow Theory. Special Report 79. Ran, B. and D. E. Boyce (1994). Dynamic Urban
Highway Research Board, Washington, D.C. Transportation Network Models; Theory and Implications
Gerlough, D. L. and M. J. Huber, (1975). Traffic Flow Theory for Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems. Lecture Notes in
- A Monograph. Special Report 165, Transportation Economics and Mathematical Systems, Springer-Verlag.
Research Board.

1-4
Back to the main publication page.

1. INTRODUCTION

Reuschel, A. (1950a). Fahrzeugbewegungen in der Kolonne. Wardrop, J. G. (1952). Some Theoretical Aspects of Road
Oesterreichisches Ingenieur-Aarchiv 4, No. 3/4, Traffic Research. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil
pp. 193-215. Engineers, Part II, 1(2), pp. 325-362, U.K.
Reuschel, A. (1950b and 1950c). Fahrzeugbewegungen in der Webster, F. V. (1958). Traffic Signal Settings. Road Research
Kolonne bei gleichformig beschleunigtem oder verzogertem Technical Paper No. 39. Road Research Laboratory,
Leitfahrzeug. Zeitschrift des Oesterreichischen Ingenieur- London, U.K.
und Architekten- Vereines 95, No. 7/8 59-62, No. 9/10 pp.
73-77.
Sheffi, Y. (1985). Urban Transportation Networks;
Equilibrium Analysis with Mathematical Programming
Methods. Prentice-Hall.

1-5