Density waves in an improved car-following model under intelligent transportation system environment

Abstract

The intelligent transportation system (ITS) can effectively utilize the existing transportation facilities and improve traffic safety and efficiency. To study and evaluate the dynamic characteristics of traffic flow, a novel car-following model is proposed based on the two-velocity difference model (TVDM) with connected consideration of headway memory and backward looking effect under ITS environment. The linear stability theory is used to acquire the stability condition of the improved model, which shows that the proposed model can effectively strengthen the traffic flow stability. According to the nonlinear theory, the time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau (TDGL) equation and modified Korteweg–de Vries (mKdV) equation are obtained to exhibit the evolution characteristics of traffic flow density wave. At last, numerical simulation is performed to further validate that the improved model can enhance the traffic flow stability and eliminate traffic congestion.