Phase diagram of congested traffic flow: An empirical study

Phys Rev E Stat Phys Plasmas Fluids Relat Interdiscip Topics. 2000 Oct;62(4 Pt A):4737-41. doi: 10.1103/physreve.62.4737.

Abstract

We analyze traffic data from a highway section containing one effective on-ramp. Based on two criteria, local velocity variation patterns and expansion (or nonexpansion) of congested regions, three distinct congested traffic states are identified. These states appear at different levels of the upstream flux and the on-ramp flux, thereby generating a phase digram of the congested traffic flow. Observed traffic states are compared with recent theoretical analyses and both agreeing and disagreeing features are found.