We study a single-lane traffic model that is based on human driving behavior. The outflow from a traffic jam self-organizes to a critical state of maximum throughput. Small perturbations of the outflow far downstream create emergent traffic jams with a power law distribution P(t)∼t-3/2 of lifetimes t. On varying the vehicle density in a closed system, this critical state separates lamellar and jammed regimes and exhibits 1/f noise in the power spectrum. Using random walk arguments, in conjunction with a cascade equation, we develop a phenomenological theory that predicts the critical exponents for this transition and explains the self-organizing behavior. These predictions are consistent with all of our numerical results. © 1995 The American Physical Society.
CITATION STYLE
Nagel, K., & Paczuski, M. (1995). Emergent traffic jams. Physical Review E, 51(4), 2909–2918. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.51.2909
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