Traffic flow time series analysis based on the three-phase traffic theory

Abstract

The string oscillation equation is proposed to model the pattern of traffic flow time series, based on three-phase traffic theory. Traffic flow time series analysis has many applications to various areas, such as intelligent transportation, signal control, routing guidance, and traffic safety. Traffic flow pattern recognition is focused under the transition between the three traffic flow phases. For this purpose, traffic flow status features are described in every phase and used for traffic flow model fitting as an empirical premise. The results demonstrate that traffic flow status pattern can be correctly recognized in 87 percent of situations using the presented equation. © 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.