Traffic experiment reveals the nature of car-following

Traffic experiment reveals the nature of car-following

As a typical self-driven many-particle system far from equilibrium, traffic flow exhibits diverse fascinating non-equilibrium phenomena, most of which are closely related to traffic flow stability and specifically the growth/dissipation pattern of disturbances. However, the traffic theories have bee...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2014-04, Vol.9 (4), p.e94351-e94351
Main Authors: Jiang, Rui, Hu, Mao-Bin, Zhang, H M, Gao, Zi-You, Jia, Bin, Wu, Qing-Song, Wang, Bing, Yang, Ming
Format: Article
Language:eng
Subjects:
Automobiles
Car following
Computer and Information Sciences
Computer simulation
Disturbances
Engineering and Technology
Equilibrium
Flow
Flow stability
Flow theory
Models, Theoretical
Particles
Physical Sciences
Studies
Traffic congestion
Traffic control
Traffic flow
Traffic information
Traffic models
Two dimensional models
Velocity
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Summary:As a typical self-driven many-particle system far from equilibrium, traffic flow exhibits diverse fascinating non-equilibrium phenomena, most of which are closely related to traffic flow stability and specifically the growth/dissipation pattern of disturbances. However, the traffic theories have been controversial due to a lack of precise traffic data. We have studied traffic flow from a new perspective by carrying out large-scale car-following experiment on an open road section, which overcomes the intrinsic deficiency of empirical observations. The experiment has shown clearly the nature of car-following, which runs against the traditional traffic flow theory. Simulations show that by removing the fundamental notion in the traditional car-following models and allowing the traffic state to span a two-dimensional region in velocity-spacing plane, the growth pattern of disturbances has changed qualitatively and becomes qualitatively or even quantitatively in consistent with that observed in the experiment.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203