An Improved Car-Following Model considering Desired Safety Distance and Heterogeneity of Driver’s Sensitivity

• Main Authors: Lei Zhang, Shengrui Zhang, Bei Zhou, Shuaiyang Jiao, Yan Huang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi-Wiley 2021-01-01
• Series: Journal of Advanced Transportation
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/6693433

We investigate the dynamic performance of traffic flow using a modified optimal velocity car-following model. In the car-following scenarios, the following vehicle must continuously adjust the following distance to the preceding vehicle in real time. A new optimal velocity function incorporating the desired safety distance instead of a preset constant is presented first to describe the abovementioned car-following behavior dynamically. The boundary conditions of the new optimal velocity function are theoretically analyzed. Subsequently, we propose an improved car-following model by combining the heterogeneity of driver’s sensitivity based on the new optimal velocity function and previous car-following model. The stability criterion of the improved model is obtained through the linear analysis method. Finally, numerical simulation is performed to explore the effect of the desired safety distance and the heterogeneity of driver’s sensitivity on the traffic flow. Results show that the proposed model has considerable effects on improving traffic stability and suppressing traffic congestion. Furthermore, the proposed model is compatible with the heterogeneity of driver’s sensitivity and can enhance the average velocity of traffic flow compared with the conventional model. In conclusion, the dynamic performance of traffic flow can be improved by considering the desired safety distance and the heterogeneity of driver’s sensitivity in the car-following model.