Benjamin Seibold, Temple University

"Phantom Traffic Jams, Autonomous Vehicles, and the Future of Traffic Modeling"

Initially homogeneous vehicular traffic flow can become inhomogeneous even in the absence of obstacles. In this "phantom traffic jam" phenomenon, small perturbations grow into traffic waves, called "jamitons". Via the mathematical analysis of traffic models, we demonstrate that phantom jams can arise from the collective behavior of all drivers on the road, and that jamitons are mathematical analogs of detonation waves. Moreover, we present theoretical and experimental results that show how connected and autonomous vehicles can be employed for future traffic flow control to dissipate, and even prevent, traffic waves; even at very low penetration rates. We close with an outlook on how traffic flow on our roadways in about to change fundamentally, and how this will greatly affect traffic modeling at the interface of applied mathematics and engineering.

Host: Prof. Kyle Mandli