A microscopic traffic flow model for sharing information from a vehicle to vehicle by considering system time delay effect

In this study, we propose an information-sharing traffic flow model by considering multiple preceding cars and system time delay effect to reproduce a more likely flow field given the dissemination of intelligent transportation systems with wireless communication. The flow field would be robustly stable and efficient if the information on each vehicle's dynamics could be shared without time delay. However, a realistic situation inevitably entails some time delay, resulting from mechanical and control systems. The proposed model is validated by the neutral stability condition through linear stability theory, thus confirming that the proposed model substantially increases the stability of a traffic flow field compared with the conventional full velocity difference model (optimal velocity model). The modified Korteweg–de Vries equation is derived and analyzed for nonlinear analysis. A numerical simulation is also conducted to justify the proposed model.