Chaos in Transit Systems

Chaos in Transit Systems is a work in progress inspired by the everyday experiences people face when driving through the city. Why is it that traveling times between the same locations can vary so much for different drivers that start their travel at nearly the same time? Or why is it that, during a traffic jam, the car in the line next to us suddenly gains a huge advantage, but it sometimes lags very far behind? Common wisdom tells us that the answer to these questions must be found in the behavior of drivers. But what if this chaotic behavior were a part of the system? In this thesis, three simple traffic models are presented, and it is argued that chaos - understood as high sensitivity to initial conditions - is a part of all transit systems.