Urban Traffic Networks

The problems of urban traffic in the industrially developed countries have been at the top of the priority list for a long time. While making a critical contribution to the economic well being of those countries, transportation systems in general and highway traffic in particular, also have detrimental effects which are evident in excessive congestion, high rates of accidents and severe pollution problems. Scientists from different disciplines have played an important role in the development and refinement of the tools needed for the planning, analysis, and control of urban traffic networks. In the past several years, there were particularly rapid advances in two areas that affect urban traffic: 1. Modeling of traffic flows in urban networks and the prediction of the resulting equilibrium conditions; 2. Technology for communication with the driver and the ability to guide him, by providing him with useful, relevant and updated information, to his desired destination.