Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38665407›Full record

ArticleCommunications physics2023

Understanding congestion propagation by combining percolation theory with the macroscopic fundamental diagram.

Lukas Ambühl, Monica Menendez, Marta C González

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Communications physics, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Universality in multispecies urban traffic.Communications physics · 2025
    Article
  5. Congestion Transition on Random Walks on Graphs.Entropy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024
    Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Lukas AmbühlInstitute for Transport Planning and Systems, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0001-8835-0950
Monica MenendezDivision of Engineering, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Marta C GonzálezDepartment of City and Regional Planning and Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The science of cities aims to model urban phenomena as aggregate properties that are functions of a system's variables. Following this line of research, this study seeks to combine two well-known approaches in network and transportation science: (i) The macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD), which examines the characteristics of urban traffic flow at the network level, including the relationship between flow, density, and speed. (ii) Percolation theory, which investigates the topological and dynamical aspects of complex networks, including traffic networks. Combining these two approaches, we find that the maximum number of congested clusters and the maximum MFD flow occur at the same moment, precluding network percolation (i.e. traffic collapse). These insights describe the transition of the average network flow from the uncongested phase to the congested phase in parallel with the percolation transition from sporadic congested links to a large, congested cluster of links. These results can help to better understand network resilience and the mechanisms behind the propagation of traffic congestion and the resulting traffic collapse.

Indexed as

Applied physicsStatistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics

Identifiers

PMID38665407
PMCPMC11041767

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.