Abstract
KEYWORDS:
traffic, waves, flow, stream, signal.
ABSTRACT:
Because traffic involves flows, concentrations and speeds, there is a tendency to attempt to describe traffic in terms of fluid behavior. In car-following models traffic is recognized as being made up of discrete particles and it is the interactions between these particles that have been examined. Applying to traffic those models which have been developed for fluids (i.e. continuum models) implies greater concern in the over-all statistical behavior of the traffic stream than in the interactions between particles. Because the sample size for traffic includes only a few particles, fluid models have certain shortcomings. Nevertheless, fluid models have certain uses, expressly the behavior of the stream rather than individual cars.