An Anisotropic Traffic Flow Model with Look-Ahead Effect for Mixed Autonomy Traffic

In this paper we extend the Aw–Rascle–Zhang (ARZ) non-equilibrium traffic flow model to take into account the look-ahead capability of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs), and the mixed flow dynamics of human-driven and autonomous vehicles. The look-ahead effect of CAVs is captured by a non-local averaged density within a certain distance (the look-ahead distance). We show, using wave-perturbation analysis, that increased look-ahead distance loosens the stability criteria. Our numerical experiments, however, showed that a longer look-ahead distance does not necessarily lead to faster convergence to equilibrium states. We also examined the impact of spatial distributions and the market penetrations of CAVs and showed that increased market penetration helps to stabilize mixed traffic while the spatial distribution of CAVs has less effect on stability. The results revealed the potential to use CAVs to stabilize traffic and may provide qualitative insights into speed control in the mixed autonomy environment.