Car-Following and Steady-State Theory for Noncongested Traffic

Car-following and continuum theories have been shown by other investigators to describe a number of aspects of the complex phenomenon of vehicular traffic flow in both quantitative and qualitative terms. It is the purpose of this paper to suggest a variation in these theories in an effort to make them more accurate for traffic densities less than optimum. The theory as modified for noncongested traffic may help to describe quantitatively the sudden change of state occurring in a traffic stream going from a relatively free-flowing condition to a crawling stop-and-go condition and back again.