The effect of driver’s characteristics on the stability of traffic flow under honk environment

Abstract

A modified optimal velocity model is proposed by considering the timid or aggressive characteristics of drivers behavior on traffic flow. The effect of driver’s characteristic on the stability of traffic flow under honk environment is examined through linear stability analysis. It is shown that the parameters related to driver’s characteristics and honk effect all have significant impact on the stability of traffic flow. Precisely, the timid driver is more beneficial to improve the stability of the traffic flow than the aggressive one under honk environment; moreover, the more skillful driver is more advantageous to improve the stability of traffic situation under the same honk environment for the same driver’s characteristics. Finally, many simulation results are found consistent with the theoretical findings which confirm that the drivers characteristics play a significant role on traffic flow dynamics.