  We study spatially non-homogeneous kinetic models for vehicular traffic flow.
Classical formulations, as for instance the BGK equation, lead to
unconditionally unstable solutions in the congested regime of traffic. We
address this issue by deriving a modified formulation of the BGK-type equation.
The new kinetic model allows to reproduce conditionally stable non-equilibrium
phenomena in traffic flow. In particular, stop and go waves appear as bounded
backward propagating signals occurring in bounded regimes of the density where
the model is unstable. The BGK-type model introduced here also offers the
mesoscopic description between the microscopic follow-the-leader model and the
macroscopic Aw-Rascle and Zhang model.
