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Transportation Systems Science Lab
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The lab investigates collective phenomena in transportation systems through both theory and empirical study.
AboutAbout the lab
Studying transportation as a science
The Transportation Systems Science Lab aims to contribute to a more sustainable and better society by building the theoretical foundations that help advance transportation systems and use them efficiently.
A transportation system is a complex system in which human decision-making, the physical behavior of vehicles, and infrastructure such as networks are intertwined.
Even when each individual acts optimally, collective phenomena such as congestion and crowding can arise at the level of the whole system. The lab analyzes the mechanisms behind them through both theory and empirical study.
Applying theory in practice and developing traffic management strategies based on a deep understanding of these phenomena are also research themes.
Key terms
- Collective phenomena
- Phenomena that emerge at the level of the whole system from the combined behavior of many people or vehicles. Congestion and crowding are examples.
- Macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD)
- A diagram that represents, at the macroscopic level, the traffic state and performance of an entire road network.
- Signal coordination
- A method of controlling the many traffic signals in a road network in coordination with one another.
NewsLab news
Paper on a parameter estimation method for car-following models published in the Journal of Japan Society of Civil Engineers
A master's student won the Outstanding Poster Award at the 73rd Infrastructure Planning and Management Conference
Paper verifying the capacity drop phenomenon at sags and tunnels published in the International Journal of Intelligent Transportation Research
Paper on capacity drop at lane-drop bottlenecks published in the International Journal of Intelligent Transportation Research
A master's student won the Best Poster Award at the 23rd ITS Symposium 2025
ResearchResearch themes
The lab investigates the behavior of transportation systems as whole systems, through both theory and empirical study, and aims to broaden the body of transportation theory. Topics include road congestion management, road network control, railway systems, and the theory of dynamic traffic flow.
*Illustrative imageA scheme for managing congestion through reservations and trading
The lab proposes the "tradable network permits scheme," which combines road reservations with a market for trading those reservations, and has theoretically proven that total travel cost for society is minimized at the equilibrium after the scheme is introduced. It also works on designing systems that achieve this equilibrium.
*Illustrative imageTraffic flow analysis and signal control in road networks
The lab analyzes, through both empirical study and theory, the properties of the macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD), which represents the traffic state and performance of an entire road network at the macroscopic level. It also works on optimizing signal coordination, which links the traffic signals of a road network.
*Illustrative imageModels of congestion and delays on high-frequency railways
To capture the chronic crowding and train delays on high-frequency railways in the Tokyo metropolitan area, the lab proposes analytically tractable models that represent the interaction between the concentration of passengers in time and train crowding and delays. It also proposes a new operating scheme premised on rapid train splitting and coupling.
*Illustrative imageTheory of dynamic traffic network flow
The lab studies the mathematical properties of dynamic traffic network flow models that can represent congestion correctly, using an approach that transforms the time-space coordinate system into a time-vehicle coordinate system. For limited networks, it has theoretically proven the uniqueness and global stability of the equilibrium state.
MembersFaculty
Members of the Transportation Systems Science Lab are faculty members, master's students, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorKentaro Wada
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Traffic congestion along Ontario Highway 401 in Pickering, Ontario, Canada” Robert Jack 啸风 Will / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- A scheme for managing congestion through reservations and trading: “Darb Toll Gate” Totakan sugiar / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Traffic flow analysis and signal control in road networks: “Intersection continuous flow” Leon7 (talk) / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Models of congestion and delays on high-frequency railways: “Rush hour Tokyo” Chris 73 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Theory of dynamic traffic network flow: “Traffic jam on the Rohtang Pass between Manali and Spiti” John Hill / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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