OBSERVED MULTILANE SPEED DISTRIBUTION AND THE KINETIC THEORY OF VEHICULAR TRAFFIC

Speed data on the multilane roadways of the New Jersey Turnpike have been obtained by means of aerial photography. The characteristics of these observed distributions have been analyzed in terms of the kinetic theory of traffic which involves three processes: "interaction," "relaxation," and "adjustment." Comparison of various aspects of the theory with the data is made on the basis of the moments of the observed speed distributions through a process of calibration in terms of the parameters involved in the three processes. A discussion is given of three different flow regimes: "individual," "collective," and "hydrodynamic" flow as well as of the discontinuity of flow in the concentration range of about 50-70 veh/lane-mile.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/1767714
• Corporate Authors:

  Operations Research Society of America

  428 East Preston Street
  Baltimore, MD  United States  21202
• Authors:
  • Edie, L C
  • Lam, T N
  • Herman, R
• Publication Date: 1980-2

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 55-76
• Serial:
  • Transportation Science
  • Volume: 14
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)
  • ISSN: 0041-1655
  • Serial URL: http://transci.journal.informs.org/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aerial photography; Highway traffic; Highway transportation; Kinetics; Mathematical models; Roads; Speed distribution; Traffic flow; Traffic speed; Traffic surveys
• Old TRIS Terms: Vehicular traffic
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; I71: Traffic Theory;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00325081
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Engineering Index
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-029 531
• Files: HSL, TRIS
• Created Date: May 21 1984 12:00AM