Phase diagram of congested traffic flow: an empirical study

Abstract

We analyze traffic data from a highway section containing one effective on-ramp. Based on two criteria, local velocity variation patterns and expansion (or nonexpansion) of congested regions, three distinct congested traffic states are identified. These states appear at different levels of the upstream flux and the on-ramp flux, thereby generating a phase diagram of the congested traffic flow. Compared to our earliear reports (including cond-mat/9905292) based on 14 day traffic data, the present paper uses a much larger data set (107 days) and the analysis is carried in a more systematic way, which leads to the modification of a part of interpretation in the earlier reports. Observed traffic states are compared with recent theoretical analyses and both agreeing and disagreeing features are found.