Common traffic congestion features studied in USA, UK, and Germany based on kerner's three-phase traffic theory

Abstract

Based on real traffic data measured on American, UK and German freeways, we study Kerner's common features of traffic congestion phases (synchronized flow and wide moving jam) relevant for many transportation engineering applications. General features of traffic congestion, i.e., features of traffic breakdown and of the further development of congested regions, are shown on freeways in the USA and UK beyond the previously known data examples. For the testing of Kerner's “line J”, representing the propagation of the wide moving jam's downstream front, four different methods are studied and compared for each congested traffic situation occurring in the three countries.