Empirical Phase Diagram of Congested Traffic Flow

Abstract

We present an empirical phase diagram of the congested traffic flow measured on a highway section with one effective on-ramp. Through the analysis of local density-flow relations and global spatial structure of the congested region, four 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 digram of the congested traffic flow. Observed traffic states are discussed in connection with recent theoretical analyses.