Title: A Unified Perspective on Traffic Flow Theory

Time: 9:30-11:00 a.m., July 18

Place: Room A326, An-zhong Building

Summary of Seminar

A unified perspective on traffic flow theory is provided, which is presented on multiple scales of traffic flow modeling. At the picoscopic level,a modeling framework called driver-vehicle-environment closed-loop system is introduced to capture ultra-fine level of detail of traffic flow. Based on the framework, a field theory of traffic flow is proposed to represent the motion and interaction of vehicles.Modeling at the microscopiclevel simplifies the theory by focusing on vehicle motion and interaction in the longitudinal direction, based on which various car-following models can be resulted. There are three approaches tomesoscopicmodeling, all of which aims to achieve modeling scope by reducing level of details. Further along the spectrum is macroscopic modeling which treats traffic flow as a one-dimensional fluid whose behavior is described by fundamental diagram which in turn is essential tomodeling traffic dynamics. In the end, everything comes together and a unified perspective is casted on traffic flow by relating traffic flow models to each othervia the field theory.

Short Biography of the Speaker

Dr. Daiheng Ni is a tenuredProfessor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA. His research interests include: Traffic Flow Theory and Simulation, Connected Vehicle Technology, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), and Air Traffic Modelling and Control.He has published over 100 journal articles and conference papers in the above areas. He was previously a Member and now a Friend of Transportation Research Board(TRB) Committee on Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics(AHB45). He is the author of textbook Traffic Flow Theory: Characteristics, Experimental Methods, and Numerical Techniques (1st edition, ISBN 9780128041345, eBook ISBN: 9780128041475) published by Elsevier in 2015. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses including:CEE310 Introduction to Transportation, CEE411/511 Traffic Engineering, CEE520/521Traffic Flow Theory and Simulation I/II, and CEE590I Signalized Intersections.