Generalized macroscopic traffic model with time delay

Abstract

The effect of delay or reaction time on traffic flow dynamics has been investigated widely in the literature using microscopic traffic models. Recent studies using second-order Payne-type models have shown analytically that, on a macroscopic scale, time delay does not contribute to whether traffic instabilities occur. This paper will attempt to show that it all depends on the (macroscopic) model used for the analysis that delay does have effect on traffic instabilities or not. To this end, we will formulate a generalized (linear) stability condition for a second-order macroscopic model with delay and investigate analytically the effect of such delay on traffic instabilities in some specific macroscopic models. It is found that the choice of the equilibrium speed function in a (second order) macroscopic model will determine how delay affects such (linear) stability condition