Effect of the driver's desire for smooth driving on the car-following model

To reduce the fuel consumption caused by the acceleration or deceleration, many drivers wish to drive cars as smoothly as possible, which means that driving behavior is influenced by the driver's desire for smooth driving. In this paper, with the consideration of the driver's desire for smooth driving, an improved car-following model is presented by incorporating the difference of the steady and history velocities into optimal velocity model. To show the effect of the factor discussed herein, the improved car-following model is investigated by the analytical and numerical methods. The linear stability criterion is obtained by the linear analysis method. And then the modified KdV equation is derived to describe the propagating behavior of traffic jams near the critical point. The amplitude of the traffic jam can be relieved by strengthening driver's desire for smooth driving. The numerical simulations are explored to verify the validity of the analytical results and the effect of the driver's desire for smooth driving. The analytical and numerical results demonstrate that the driver's desire for smooth driving plays a positive role in improving traffic stability and flux.