Effect of driver behaviours on the formation and dissipation of traffic flow instabilities

This paper extends a non-local second order continuum traffic model to take into account the timid or aggressive driver behaviours. Based on the proposed model, we derive analytically the effect of timid or aggressive driver behaviours on the instability of traffic dynamics. Simulation results are presented to show how the timid or aggressive driver behaviours influence the formation and dissipation of stop-and-go waves. It is found theoretically and numerically that aggressive drivers tend to stabilize traffic flow whereas timid drivers tend to destabilize traffic flow.