From homogeneous to heterogeneous traffic flows: Lp String stability under uncertain model parameters

Marcello Montanino, Julien Monteil and Vincenzo Punzo

Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, 2021, vol. 146, issue C, 136-154

Abstract: This paper shows that the heterogeneity of drivers’ and vehicles characteristics makes platoons, on average, more string-unstable. However, the string instability degree of unstable platoons is much higher in a homogeneous flow than in a heterogeneous one. These results are based on an L∞ characterization of string stability, which is shown to be the most appropriate one from a traffic safety viewpoint. Mechanisms and conditions are discussed in which an L2 characterization is not able to capture the amplification of a speed drop through a string of vehicles. An analytical sufficient condition for the L∞ string stability of heterogeneous vehicles, which move according to a general class of car-following models, is derived. Above all, a thorough comparison of L∞ and L2 string stability characterizations between a homogeneous and a heterogenous flow, is performed. To this aim, the Lp norms of heterogeneous platoons are calculated within a quasi-Monte Carlo framework. The variability of the Lp norm values due to the platoon length, the equilibrium speed, and the probability distribution model of the uncertain vehicle parameters, is analysed. Overall, it is shown that the platoon stability behaviour sensibly changes with the shape and the correlation structure of vehicle model parameter distributions. Therefore, traffic heterogeneity needs to be modelled in order to correctly characterize the string stability of a mixed traffic flow.

Keywords: Heterogenous platoons; Mixed traffic; String stability; Car-following; Adaptive cruise control; Uncertainty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191261521000187
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:transb:v:146:y:2021:i:c:p:136-154

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
https://shop.elsevie ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

DOI: 10.1016/j.trb.2021.01.009

Access Statistics for this article

Transportation Research Part B: Methodological is currently edited by Fred Mannering

More articles in Transportation Research Part B: Methodological from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().