A Novel Macroscopic Traffic Model based on Distance Headway

Zawar H. Khan (Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar,)
T. Aaron Gulliver (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Victoria, PO Box 1700, STN CSC, Victoria, BC,)
Khurram S. Khattak (Department of Computer System Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar,)

Civil Engineering Journal
Vol 7 (2021): Special Issue "Innovative Strategies in Civil Engineering Grand Challenges"

A new model is proposed to characterize changes in traffic at transitions. These changes are affected by driver response. The distance headway between vehicles is considered as it affects driver behavior. Driver response is quick with a small distance headway and slow when the distance headway is large. The variations in traffic are greater with a slow driver while traffic is smooth with a quick driver. A model is developed which characterizes traffic based on driver response and distance headway. This model is compared with the well-known and widely employed Zhang and PW models. The Zhang model characterizes driver response at transitions using an equilibrium velocity distribution and ignores distance headway and driver response. Traffic flow in the PW model is characterized using only a velocity constant. Roe decomposition is employed to evaluate the Zhang, PW, and proposed models over a 270 m circular (ring) road. Results are presented which show that Zhang model provides unrealistic results. The corresponding behavior with the proposed model has large variations in flow with a slow driver but is smooth with a quick driver. The PW model provides smooth changes in flow according to the velocity constant, but the behavior is unrealistic because it is not based on traffic physics. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-SP2021-07-03 Full Text: PDF