Density waves in a traffic flow model with reaction-time delay

Density waves are investigated analytically and numerically in the optimal velocity model with reaction-time delay of drivers. The stability condition of this model is obtained by using the linear stability theory. The results show that the decrease of reaction-time delay of drivers leads to the stabilization of traffic flow. The Burgers, Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) and modified Korteweg-de Vries (mKdV) equations are derived to describe the density waves in the stable, metastable and unstable regions respectively. The triangular shock waves, soliton waves and kink-antikink waves appearing respectively in the three distinct regions are derived to describe the traffic jams. The numerical simulations are given. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.