title: Traffic jams: dynamics and control.
abstract: This introductory paper reviews the current state-of-the-art scientific methods used for modelling, analysing and controlling the dynamics of vehicular traffic. Possible mechanisms underlying traffic jam formation and propagation are presented from a dynamical viewpoint. Stable and unstable motions are described that may give the skeleton of traffic dynamics, and the effects of driver behaviour are emphasized in determining the emergent state in a vehicular system. At appropriate points, references are provided to the papers published in the corresponding Theme Issue.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA. gabor@engineering.ucsb.edu
authors.forename: Gábor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Orosz
authors.forename: R Eddie
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Gábor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stépán