Study on the multi-lane lattice model for highways based on a novel lane-changing mechanism

Abstract

This paper reconstructs the lane-changing rules of a multi-lane highway system based on the aggressive lane-changing characteristics of actual drivers. Based on these observations, a new multi-lane lattice model is proposed. The linear stability conditions for the new model are derived. The density wave equation of the novel model is generated by exploring the evolutionary law of traffic congestion in the multi-lane highway system near the critical stability point. The correctness of the theoretical analysis results is verified using numerical simulations. The results of the study show that for a given number of multi-lane systems, the stability of the traffic flow is positively correlated with the driver's aggressiveness in changing lanes. In particular, when the adjustment intensity coefficient reaches 1, the stability of the traffic flow is optimal. On the other hand, when the lane-changing aggressiveness coefficient is kept constant, the stability of the multi-lane system increases as the number of lanes gradually increases from 1 to 4. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate that the propagation range and the size of flow fluctuations can be substantially reduced by increasing the aggressiveness of lane changes as well as by increasing the number of lanes.