An improved car-following model considering the preceding vehicle’s velocity feedback and desired inter-vehicle distance

In this paper, an improved car-following model is raised by taking the preceding vehicle’s velocity feedback and desired inter-vehicle distance into account. The asymptotic and local stability criteria are obtained via control theory method to analyze the effect of the preceding vehicle’s velocity feedback and desired inter-vehicle distance on dynamic characteristics of traffic flow. In addition, numerical simulations are constructed on vehicle starting and traffic flow evolution processes, which show that the proposed car-following model can better present the characteristics of traffic flow. The preceding vehicle’s velocity feedback and desired inter-vehicle distance play a vital role on vehicle starting process and the stability of traffic flow.