An Introduction to Traffic Flow Theory

This text provides a comprehensive and concise treatment of the topic of traffic flow theory and includes several topics relevant to today's highway transportation system. It provides the fundamental principles of traffic flow theory as well as applications of those principles for evaluating specific types of facilities (freeways, intersections, etc.). Newer concepts of Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and their potential impact on traffic flow are discussed. State-of-the-art in traffic flow research and microscopic traffic analysis and traffic simulation have significantly advanced and are also discussed in this text. Real world examples and useful problem sets complement each chapter.

This textbook is meant for use in advanced undergraduate/graduate level courses in traffic flow theory with prerequisites including two semesters of calculus, statistics, and an introductory course in transportation. The text would also be of interest to transportation professionals as a refresher in traffic flow theory, or as a reference. Students and engineers of diverse backgrounds will find this text accessible and applicable to today's traffic issues.

Introduction. - Part 1. - 1. Modeling the Motion of a Single Vehicle. - 2. Modeling Vehicle Interactions and the Movement of Groups of Vehicles. - Part 2. - 3. The Traffic Stream: Traffic Flow Performance Characteristics. - 4. Capacity. - 5. Traffic Operational Performance Measures. - Part 3. - 6. Analytical Models for Bottleneck and Queuing Evaluations. - 7. Simulation Modeling. - Part 4. - 8. Freeways. - 9. Signalized Intersections and Networks. - 10. Unsignalized Intersections. - 11. Two-Lane Highways. - Appendix A. - Appendix B. - Index.