Symposium

2008 Summer Meeting - July 8-10, 2008 - Woods Hole, MA

Symposium on The Fundamental Diagram: 75 Years

Greenshields 75 Symposium

Symposium Chair: Reinhart Kuehne, German Aerospace Center [Greenshields]

Symposium Co-Chair: Nathan H. Gartner, University of Massachusetts Lowell

 TR Circular E-C149 Proceedings

Greenshields

• Dr. Bruce Douglas Greenshields (1893-1979) Curriculum Vitae

• Traffic Surveys to Solve Highway Problems, 1932

• The Photographic Method of Studying Traffic Behavior, 1934

• A Study of Traffic Capacity, 1935

• Distance and Time Required to Overtake and Pass Cars, 1935

• Studying Traffic Capacity by New Methods, 1935

• Reaction Time in Automobile Driving, 1936

• Reaction-Time and Traffic Behavior, 1937

• Organization and Functions of City Traffic Engineering Departments, 1940 (cover only)

• Traffic Performance at Urban Street Intersections, 1947

• Statistics with Applications to Highway Traffic Analyses, 1952 (cover only)

• Quality and Theory of Traffic Flow, 1961

• Changes in Driver Performance with Time in Driving, 1964 (cover only)

• Objective Measures of Driver Behavior, 1964

• The Development of a Method of Predicting High Accident and High Violation Drivers, 1965 (cover only)

• Traffic and Highway Research and How It May Be Improved, 1970

Treiterer (courtesy of Ray Benekohal)

• Application of Infra-Red Technology to Control Vehicle Movement in a Platoon of Cars

• Effect of Signal Spacing on Platoon Dispersion, 1973

• Investigation of Traffic Dynamics by Aerial Photogrammetry Techniques, 1975

• Interim 1 (1967), Interim 2 (1969), Interim 3 (1970), Interim 4 (1972)

• The Hysteresis Phenomenon in Traffic Flow, Treiterer and Myers (1974)

Opening Session

Foundations of Traffic Flow Theory - The Fundamental Diagram

Tuesday, July 8, 2008, 08:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Invited Presentations

I.1: Foundations of Traffic Flow Theory I: Greenshields' Legacy - Highway Traffic

Reinhart Kuehne, German Aerospace Center

I.2 Foundations of Traffic Flow Theory II: Greenshields' Legacy - Urban Streets PPT

Nathan H. Gartner, University of Massachusetts Lowell

I.3: Foundations of Traffic Flow Theory III: Treiterer's Legacy - Measurements and Characteristics PPT

Rahim Benekohal, University of Illinois

I.4: Foundations of Traffic Flow Theory IV: Modern Approaches to Traffic Flow Modeling the Three-phase Theory, Boris Kerner, Daimler AG, Germany

Technical Session A

The Fundamental Diagram:  From Theory to Practice

Tuesday, July 8, 2008, 01:30 PM - 05:00 PM

• A.1: Traffic Flow Theory: Historical Research Perspectives, S L Dhingra and I. Gull, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India

• A.2: Traffic Flow Prospectives: From Fundamental Diagram to Energy Balance, Reinhard Mahnke, Christof Liebe, Institute of Physics, Rostock University, Rostock, Germany; Reinhart Kuehne, Transportation Studies Group, German Aerospace Center, Berlin, Germany; Haizhong Wang, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, USA

• A.3:  A Stochastic Macroscopic Modeling Framework unifying Kinematic Wave Modeling and Three Phase Traffic Theory, Serge P. Hoogendoorn, Hans van Lint, Victor Knoop, Delft University of Technology

• A.4:  Investigation of LWR Model with Flux Function Driven by Random Free Flow Speed, Jia Li, Qian-Yong Chen, Haizhong Wang, and Daiheng Ni, University of Massachusetts Amherst

• A.5: A Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram of Urban Traffic: Recent Findings, Nikolas Geroliminis, University of Minnesota

• A.6: Influence of Various Restrictions on Speed-Flow Models, Marian Tracz and Stanislaw Gaca, Cracow University of Technology, Cracow, Poland

• A.7:  Quality of Service Beyond the Traditional Fundamental Diagram, Anja Estel, Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany

Technical Session B

Measurements and Characteristics of Traffic Flow

Wednesday, July 9, 2008, 08:30 AM - 10:15 AM

• B.1: Measuring Traffic Flow Using Real-time Measurement, BG Heydecker and JD Addison, Centre for Transport Studies, University College London

• B.2: Airborne Traffic Flow Data and Traffic Management, Mark Hickman and Pitu Mirchandani, ATLAS Center, University of Arizona

• B.3:  Bird's Eye Perspective on Traffic Flow Theory – New Insights Observing Traffic from a Helicopter, Serge P. Hoogendoorn, Delft University of Technology

• B.4:  From Inductance Loops to Vehicle Trajectories, R. Eddie Wilson, University of Bristol, U.K.

Technical Session C

Empirical Observations of Traffic Flow Characteristics

Wednesday, July 9, 2008, 10:30 AM - 12:15 PM

• C.1:  Empirical Relation between Stochastic Capacities and Capacities Obtained from the Speed-Flow Diagram, Justin Geistefeldt, Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany

• C.2: Adaptive Estimation of Speed-Density Relations for Online Network Traffic Prediction, Hani S. Mahmassani, Northwestern University and Xiao Qin, Brudis & Associates, Inc. Abstract

• C.3:  Fundamental Diagram for Signalized Arterials: An Empirical Analysis from High-Resolution Traffic Data, Henry X. Liu, Xinkai Wu, and Nikolas Geroliminis, University of Minnesota

• C.4:  Fundamental Diagram on Urban Roads – Myth or Truth?, Elmar Brockfeld, Alexander Sohr, and Peter Wagner, Institute of Transportation Systems, German Aerospace Centre, Berlin, Germany; Nathan H. Gartner, University of Massachusetts Lowell Abstract

Technical Session D

Simulation and Calibration of Traffic Flow Models

Wednesday, July 9, 2008, 01:30 PM - 05:00 PM

• D.1 A Simple and Pragmatic Representation of Traffic Flow, Michael MacNicholas, University of Ulster, N. Ireland

• D.2 Calibration of Steady-State Car Following Models using Macroscopic Loop Detector Data, Hesham Rakha and Yu Gao, Virginia Tech

• D.3  New Insights on Fundamental Diagram Calibration from Loop Detectors Data, Nicolas Chiabaut, Christine Buisson, Ludovic Leclercq, INRETS, France Abstract

• D.4  Calibrating Speed-Density Functions for Mesoscopic Traffic Simulation, Ramachandran Balakrishna, Constantinos Antoniou, Haris N. Koutsopoulos, Yang Wen, Moshe Ben-Akiva, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• D.5  The Anisotropic Mesoscopic Simulation Model on Interrupted Highway Facilities, Yi-Chang Chiu and Jorge A. Villalobos, University of Arizona Abstract

• D.6  The Butterfly Effect: Imbalances in Lane Change Accommodation Time and Lasting Disturbances, B. Coifman, C. Wang and Y. Xuan, Ohio State University Abstract

• D.7  Strategies to Improve Dissipation Into Destination Networks Using Macroscopic Network Flow Models, Vinayak V. Dixit and Essam A. Radwan, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL

Panel Discussion

Perspectives on Traffic Flow Theory: Beyond Greenshields

Thursday, July 10, 2008, 10:00 AM – 12:00 noon

Panel members: H.S. Mahmassani (moderator), R. Bertini , C. Buisson, N. Gartner, S. Hoogendoorn, B. Kerner, R. Kuehne

Panelists will start an open discussion (with input from all participants) on developments in traffic

science, and implications for practice. Questions to be addressed include:

• Did Greenshields’ work completely miss the breakdown phenomenon?

• Will ongoing developments in vehicle technologies (intelligent cruise control, peer-to-peer networks) change in any fundamental ways Greenshields’ significance?

• Will better traffic measurement techniques reveal new insights that could fundamentally change the field?

• Is there an over-emphasis on microscopic simulation that has shifted focus from fundamental understanding of collective effects?

• How well is traffic science understood by traffic engineers in practice and what can be done about it?

Symposium Celebrating 50 Years of Traffic Flow Theory

Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics Committee (AHB45)
2014 Summer Meeting - August 11-13, 2014 - Portland, Oregon USA

• Program

• Proceedings: Transportation Research Circular E-197

The TRB Committee on Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics Symposium Celebrating 50 Years of Traffic Flow Theory and Midyear Meeting was held in Portland, Oregon, USA, August 11-13, 2014. Top papers were published in special issues of Transportmetrica B and the Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems, and all papers were published in a special issue of the Transportation Research Circular series. The predecessor committee focusing on traffic flow theory was organized 50 years ago, and this is an appropriate time to recognize the past accomplishments in the field, reflect on the present state of our research community and identify key future directions. This symposium builds on past successful symposia beginning with the Greenshields Symposium in Woods Hole, MA in 2008, the Does Traffic Data Support Traffic Models Symposium in Annecy, France in 2010 and the Symposium on Advancements in Traffic Flow Theory and Highway Capacity and Quality of Service in Fort Lauderdale, FL in 2012.

Organizing Committee

• Robert Bertini, Portland State University, Chair

• Ludovic Leclercq, Université de Lyon, IFSTTAR / ENTPE

• Nikolas Geroliminis, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

• Haizhong Wang, Oregon State University

• Victor Knoop, Delft University of Technology

• Vikash Gayah, The Pennsylvania State University

• Yanfeng Ouyang, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Soyoung Ahn, University of Wisconsin

• Tegan Enloe, DKS Associates Miranda Wells, HDR