27th January 2010, 6:00pm
Phantom Traffic Jams, Professor R Eddie Wilson
Abstract
‘Most drivers will recognise the scenario: you are making steady progress along the motorway when suddenly you come to a sudden halt at the tail end of a lengthy queue of traffic. When you move off again you look for the cause of the jam, but there isn’t one. No accident damaged cars, no breakdown, no dead animal, and no debris strewn on the road. So what caused everyone to stop?’ RAC news release (2005)
In this talk, Dr Wilson will give a popular overview of the mathematics of highway traffic flow and how it may be used to explain, forecast and (in future) control such ‘phantom jams’ as described above. The talk will be illustrated with movies and computer demonstrations.
Professor Wilson is a Reader in the Engineering Mathematics department at the University of Bristol and an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellow in highway traffic modelling. He is particularly known for some of his media work including appearances on ‘Britain from Above’ (BBC1) and ‘Cutting Edge’ (Channel 4).
Venue: Room 2Q48, Q block, Frenchay Campus, UWE, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol
No charge is made to attend meetings and non-members are welcome.
