A new macro model for traffic flow with the consideration of the driver's forecast effect

In this Letter, we present a new car-following model based on the driver's forecast effect (DFE). Applying the relationship between the micro and macro variables, we obtain a new macro model for traffic flow with the consideration of DFE. The analytical results show that our model can improve the stability of traffic flow if properly considering DFE and will reduce the stable region of traffic flow if over considering DFE. The numerical results show that our model can not only reproduce the evolution of shock, rarefaction wave and small perturbation, but also improve the stability of traffic flow. (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.