A Model for the Formation and Evolution of Traffic Jams

In this paper, we establish and analyze a traffic flow model which describes the formation and dynamics of traffic jams. It consists of a pressureless gas dynamics system under a maximal constraint on the density and is derived through a singular limit of the Aw-Rascle model. From this analysis, we deduce the particular dynamical behavior of clusters (or traffic jams), defined as intervals where the density limit is reached. An existence result for a generic class of initial data is proved by means of an approximation of the solution by a sequence of clusters. Finally, numerical simulations are produced.