Modified Coupled Map Car-Following Model Based on Comprehensive Information of Preceding and Following Cars

With the consideration of the application of intelligent transportation system (ITS) information, a modified coupled-map car-following model is proposed to describe the dynamical behavior of vehicles moving along a single-lane road. It is assumed that there exists a vehicle-bound navigation system providing each vehicle with the information about its preceding and following vehicles. Using a dynamical version of the decentralized delayed-feedback control scheme, a strategy for controlling the traffic congestion is proposed through adjusting the control parameters in the presented model. On the basis of a new principle of feedback control, the stability criteria are provided as the speed of the preceding vehicle changes. The theoretical analysis shows that considering more information on preceding and following vehicles could keep traffic flows in stable conditions, which means that it is considerably easier to achieve the stable conditions of traffic flows. The corresponding numerical simulations confirm the correctness of the theoretical analysis. Compared with previous researches concerning congestion control, the control strategy in this paper is more effective in suppressing the formation of traffic congestion.