Theoretical development of traffic flow theory

The traffic flow theory sprouted in the 1930s. Firstly, the relationship between traffic flow and vehicle speed is analyzed by using probability theory. Since the 1940s, traffic flow theory has made new progress on the basis of the development of operational research and computing technology, and the methods of probability theory, fluid mechanics and dynamics have been applied to the study of traffic flow respectively. 1959 12 the first international conference on traffic flow theory was held in Detroit, USA, and representatives from the United States, Britain, Australia and the Federal Republic of Germany attended the conference. This meeting is regarded as a sign of the formation of traffic flow theory. In the future, the conference will be held every three years on average, and a collection of papers will be issued at each meeting.