Citation

Jung JH, Eom YH. Phys. Rev. E 2023; 108(5-1): e054312.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, American Physical Society)

DOI

10.1103/PhysRevE.108.054312

PMID

38115442

Abstract

Understanding how local traffic congestion spreads in urban traffic networks is fundamental to solving congestion problems in cities. In this work, by analyzing the high-resolution data of traffic velocity in Seoul, we empirically investigate the spreading patterns and cluster formation of traffic congestion in a real-world urban traffic network. To do this, we propose a congestion identification method suitable for various types of interacting traffic flows in urban traffic networks. Our method reveals that congestion spreading in Seoul may be characterized by a treelike structure during the morning rush hour but a more persistent loop structure during the evening rush hour. Our findings suggest that diffusion and stacking processes of local congestion play a major role in the formation of urban traffic congestion.

Language: en