Single-Parameter Model for Formation of Oscillations in Car-Following Models

This paper shows that the formation and propagation of traffic oscillations in the absence of lane changes can be explained by the stochastic nature of drivers' acceleration processes. By adding a white noise to drivers desired acceleration in free-flow, oscillations are produced that accord well with observation. This theory suggests that driver error is a function of roadway geometry, that it determines the average speed at the bottleneck, as well as oscillation period and amplitude. The model has been implemented with a single additional parameter compared to the kinematic wave model with bounded accelerations.

  • Supplemental Notes:
    • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AHB45 Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics.
  • Corporate Authors:

    Transportation Research Board

    500 Fifth Street, NW
    Washington, DC  United States  20001
  • Authors:
    • Laval, Jorge A
    • Toth, Christopher Stephen
  • Conference:
  • Date: 2014

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Features: References;
  • Pagination: 26p
  • Monograph Title: TRB 93rd Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01506634
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: 14-3355
  • Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
  • Created Date: Feb 7 2014 10:12AM